Edward Gorey

        Many people are familiar with Edward Gorey's quirky, morbid illustrations and writing. (You may also know him as E. G. Deadworry, Madame Groeda Weyrd or another of his many clever and humorous pseudonyms.) Gorey has been on my radar ever since I was in middle school and my mother gave me The Gashlycrumb Tinies, an alphabet book describing 26 children's deaths such as "Y is for Yorick whose head was knocked in. Z is for Zillah who drank too much gin" (... and she wonders today why I turned out the way I did). Gorey's ominous illustrations and often nonsensical text are horrifically charming and terribly enjoyable to read/look at.
        Gorey (which is his given name by the way, too perfect) has really perfected a genre of picture books for older readers, with titles such as The Curious Sofa; a porno-graphic work by Ogdred Weary, which follows a young woman named Alice in a series of questionably vague escapades ending in being shrunk to ant size by a strange sir and "machinery inside the sofa". You can never tell where Gorey is going to take something, but the combination of his absurd writing and distinct illustrative style (think men in fur coats, women in flapper dresses, and an oddly placed child or cat plus an overall foreboding feel), is brilliant.
        He has written/illustrated over a hundred stories, many of them now difficult to find on their own but available in his "Amphigorey" collections (Amphigorey, Amphigorey Too, Amphigorey Also and Amphigorey Again). He also illustrated Bram Stoker's Dracula, H. G. Wells The War of the Worlds and famously the set and costumes for the 1977 Broadway production of Dracula (for which he won a Tony for the costumes). His illustrations were also animated for the PBS series Mystery! which ran in the early 1980's (watch the opening here!).
        If you hadn't already heard of him I URGE you to go to a bookstore (I've found some of the Amphigorey books for under $10 at used bookstores) and buy one of his collections! I promise you that your life will be better because of it. He without a doubt is and always will be one of my very favorites.

-The Edward Gorey House (Gorey's former home in Yarmouth Port, MA - converted to a small museum and store)
-The full Gashlycrumb Tinies text and illustrations
-Documentary on Gorey (you can watch the video interviews here, his mannerisms and jewelry are fantastic)




images: various sources, c. Edward Gorey

Eugenio Recuenco

(section of second image)
        Eugenio Recuenco is a positively epic fashion photographer. He is known (particularly throughout his native Spain, where he shoots exclusively for Vogue) for his cinematic style (which I am DYING over) and has photographed for fashion houses such as Chanel and LV.
        A quick glance at his website (13 pages with upwards of 50 photographs on some of the pages) makes it clear that he is an expert in not only color and composition but concept and individuality as well. As I began the impossible task of choosing which pictures to share (if I could I'd post one from every series- they're that great), I found myself more and more deeply pulled in by his series that are put together like film strips. The women are sexy, strange, and powerful, and the narrative flow is really amazing.
        I know this post is panning in comparison to my more recent lengthier posts, but I honestly just don't have the words for this one. Recuenco's work has a true identity and is stunning. The best I can do is to say to look for yourself. And be sure to look at his videos as well, which are equally strange and beautiful. This one's my favorite (be warned it's a little creepy).

Recuenco's website




(to view images larger click them, but for full size head over to his website!)
images: eugeniorecuenco.com

Ali Scarpulla

        I saw this photograph (above) a while back on one of the blogs I look at pretty regularly, Morbid Anatomy, in a post labeled an "enigmatic collection of captionless vintage photos".
        After a bit of quick super-sleuthing hoping to find the source of the image, I discovered that the photo was not in fact "vintage", though it does not have a caption, so they were correct about that, and is by photographer Ali Scarpulla. (This is not Morbid Anatomy's fault as they seem to have found the set from another website, and it is also easy to see how this mistake may have been made- just sad when photographers don't get due credit). Anyway, my search lead me to Scarpulla's flickr, which is chock full of similarly dark and beautiful images.
        Her profile reveals little information about her (she lists an interest as "sleeping with eyes open"), so I have only been able to ascertain that she has an eye for light (possibly from sleeping with her eyes open so much). Basically, Scarpulla is the kind of photographer that makes me go "crap, why is this not me". Her subject matter; dangling limbs, sculls, twisted wood and light itself, are expertly composed and just strange enough to not disengage but make the viewer curious. In one word they are ghostly. Like I said, I'm jealous.

See for yourself: Scarpulla's flickr




images: flickr.com/photos/aliscarpulla

Abelardo Morell

        We were introduced to Abe Morell's work in my photography class last year to discuss his photographic adaptation of Alice in Wonderland and the way it breathes new life into a frequently illustrated book. The series is really cool, using book alterations with Sir John Tenniel's original illustrations for the story. The series begins to set up an idea of Morell's unusual perspective.
        Morell's body of work boasts everything from incredible photograms, curious images of crumpled dollar bills and wet newspapers, to sections of paintings in museums and altered books. All equally "normal" but from an angle not previously imagined; you are truly seeing through Morell's eyes. Possibly the most interesting of his works however, are his series using the camera obscura.
        For anyone who does not know, the camera obscura is an optical device that lead to the invention of photography, but was originally used for drawing. In short, light passes through a small hole (or sometimes a lens) in one side of a box, and is, by the physics of light, then projected upside down. For accurate perspective in drawings, the images would be projected onto a wall and traced, often with the camera obscura itself being a room or tent, so the artist would be inside. Another way to imagine it is as a giant pinhole camera. (In pinhole cameras the image is projected into a small box with film inside).
        Morell uses this science in the large scale fashion, filling interior spaces with the upside-down image of their exterior (his pinhole being in an otherwise blocked-out window, so the camera obscura becomes the entire room), and photographs the resulting overlapping images. The effect is immensely surreal and oftentimes dizzying. The first photographs (from the 90's) are in black and white, though he eventually moves to color, and in his most recent work, he flips the projected image (i imagine using mirrors) so that it is projected right-side-up.
        What's most interesting to me about the series, aside from the outstandingly surreal interior landscapes it yields, is Morell's tie of photography's history and his current work. Photography has always been very much about the process, and with our current technology and the absurd number of images we see every day, it's refreshing and eye-opening to see someone referencing the way it all began.

For more information on Morell as well as lots of images, check out his website. He currently teaches at MassArt, so maybe some day I'll get the opportunity to meet him(!).



images: abelardomorell.net

Hans Bellmer

“If my work is found to scandalize, that is because for me the world is scandalous.”
        -Hans Bellmer

        Hans Bellmer is another artist I was turned on to by my mentor (he is very perceptive about what will spark my interest). I realized after trying about four times to write this post that I don't have enough background to analyze his work to the extent that I would like to. I think I will probably end up writing an essay on him eventually. I have looked at his work a great deal, and done a fair amount of background research on both Bellmer and the surrealists, but for some reason I'm just not content scratching the surface with this one.
        Bellmer's work is highly controversial, as it depicts a mutant-like doll that he created, which takes a sexualized female form. While Bellmer was working against what was the then (the 1930s, but very much still) idealized female form, he was also working off of some darker (not unfamiliar in surrealism) concepts. It has been said that his doll series was sparked by three things "the reappearance in his family of a beautiful teenage cousin, Ursula Naguschewski, who moved to Berlin from Kassel in 1932; his attendance at a performance of Jacques Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann, in which the protagonist falls tragically in love with the lifelike automaton Olympia; and a shipment from his mother of a box of old toys which had belonged to him as a boy." The dolls become elevated to a level of taboo "inappropriateness" then that is both intriguing and concerning, is it okay to have this insight into what was perhaps a sexual fantasy of Bellmer's? Does it weaken the argument against society's ideal view of the female form? This is what surrealism is all about. Desire, the female form, sexuality, death. Much too much for me to handle in the simple setting of this blog.
        I recently picked up a book Exquisite Corpse: Surrealism and the Black Dahlia Murder, I don't have it with me but I can only imagine that Bellmer is mentioned if not talked about in depth. If I ever end up getting around to that essay I will give Bellmer the post he deserves, but in the mean time I will let you come to your own conclusions.

There's a good essay about him here for all the background information (on Bellmer but mainly his work) that I wouldn't be able to sum up better.



images: ubugallery.com & marvelligallery.com

Unknown

        I started a post about Hans Bellmer but I am too tired to finish it after having just returned from being out in the wilderness for the week. So for tonight, here is one of the most beautiful photographs I have ever seen. Something about it just speaks to me. And the lighting is fantastic. I found it on a random tumblr account a while back, uncredited (which made me quite mad), so on the off chance anyone knows who took it, speak up!


Back to normal posting (and Hans Bellmer) tomorrow...

Graham Tabor

        Just a quick one today (50th post!), but these images were way too badass to not share.
        Graham Tabor is a NY-based up and coming clothing designer who takes a very interesting approach to his collection, relating it to an archaeological dig "each fragment separate from the rest, almost veiling its origin", and referring to the wearers as warriors. Both statements are entirely just, as his designs look like they have endured battle, with strategically placed slashes, tangles, and bandaged feet. His collection, enhanced by the efforts of an entire collaborative team (photography- Miguel Villalobos, accessories- Kristin Victoria Barron, hair- Chinatsu Nobe, makeup- Fumii Nakagawa), transcends mere fashion and model and becomes a beautifully indistinguishable fusion of fashion, art, architecture, man, warrior and meaning.
        I was also taken with the fact that his collection, which entirely is for men (though I would wear any of it in a second), is so far from the typical menswear we see again and again, while still including menswear staples (such as the blazer). Tabor (and the rest of his team) is absolutely on to something, I'll surely be keeping an eye on him.

to see his collection, as well as a short bio and links to the rest of the team's sites, see Tabor's website.



images: grahamtabor.com

Edvard Munch

        Edvard Munch is most well-known for his painting The Scream, which everyone reading this should recognize (it's one of the most recognized images in art). Though he is often written off as a one-hit-wonder, The Scream was only one painting in his series Frieze of Life, which examined life, love and death.
        Munch's works are most often known for their level of anxiety, which has lead to false claims throughout history that he may have had a mental disorder, but Munch was said to have had a good hold on his career, and a stable mind. This becomes clear when looking at his complete works, much of which is as innocuous as pigeons, boats by the shore, and many, many portraits. It is more than anything because his anxiety-driven pieces are so much more interesting and simultaneously alarming that they are all that is ever talked about or stick in our minds. It is these darker, more macabre images that are my favorite as well (I have also found that I am particularly drawn to his depictions of women in these environs, but that does seem to fit my interests). He chose his subject matter well, life, love and death being topics that will strike a heavy chord with just about everyone. The same figures and compositions arise again and again in his work, always slightly altered, making it clear that Munch was trying to work something out, whether that be the concepts or simply the right image.
        Munch is also often assumed to have only been a painter (again, because our common recognition of The Scream overwrites much of our knowledge of the man), however a good portion of his work is prints (etchings, lithographs, drypoint, and woodcuts) - which in my opinion are even better than his paintings. Their aesthetic better reflects the rawness of the topics he often examined. After taking an etching class, I have become really taken with this aesthetic, and Munch has the perfect subject matter (in much of his work) to grab my attention and the talent to back it up.

To see Munch's "complete graphic works", take a look at the Munch Museum website, which has almost 750 images!!!!!! (I almost died when I found this.)




images: munch.museum.no

Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison

        "My photographs tell stories of loss, human struggle, and personal exploration within landscapes scarred by technology and over-use…. [I] strive to metaphorically and poetically link laborious actions, idiosyncratic rituals and strangely crude machines into tales about our modern experience."
-Robert ParkeHarrison

        Both in their early forties, Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison are collaboratively responsible for some of the most awing photographs I have seen. Taking on the heavy topic of the environment and its slow destruction at the hand of human monotony, the ParkeHarrisons make a strong argument for the power of art to address current issues and effect change. Though the photographs are staged, they bring to light a harsh potential future, which brings a certain unease to the images that cannot quite be matched with documentary work on the subject. The photographs are at the same time both immensely beautiful and terribly distressing.
        In their most well-known series, The Architect's Brother (named one of 'the Ten Best Photography Books of the Year' by the NY Times in 2000), Robert poses as the self-described "everyman", in images conceptualized and executed by the pair. The series, the look of which is enhanced by the use of paper negatives and collage, shows Robert in a seemingly post-apocalyptic environment of desolate landscapes and pieces of makeshift technology.
        The pair's two more recent series, Gray Dawn and Counterpoint explore the same issues, with a change of aesthetic, moving to color (which they apply to the large prints by hand using pigments) and a more modern look. This abandons much of the apocalyptic feel of their earlier work, but is possibly even more disturbing as an element of surreality has been removed and the images appear alarmingly real. In their most recent work Counterpoint new models (a small girl and a woman- which may be Shana though I am unsure) are introduced as well, creating a little more room for creativity with compositions and sometimes creating more of a contrast between poetic, innocent and alarming.
        I cannot urge you enough to look at their images, as I believe they are not only beautiful and haunting but also very important to photo history and culturally relevant.

For extensive galleries of their images, here is their website
and the full The Architect's Brother series.




images: parkeharrison.com

Andrea Marshall

        I am currently really digging Andrea Marshall's series Witch A BOOK OF BANANAS FORKS SPOONS + HEARTBREAK. Witch features self-portraiture photography, collage and painting, and involves what Marshall herself best describes in her artist statement;
"My work consists mainly of self-portraits that explore the Self in relation to traditional archetypal concepts of the nature of womanhood. I attempt to visually render this juxtaposition through a symbiotic dialogue between history and contemporary culture. Through a range of media, including both painting and photography, I examine internal psychological conflict through Personas reflecting the idealistic and tragic nature of the prototypical female. Through self-portraiture, syncretized with symbolic female Personae, I strive to connect, rather than isolate, the female experience and contribute to evolving, yet eternal, female imagery."

        Her Witch book is not only visually stunning, but wildly interesting. The recurrent imagery; bananas, the sexualized female form, birds/feathers, Egyptian and Christian imagery (the list goes on), begs the viewer to question everything they know historically about witches and their connection to the female identity. She hints to some of these answers in the title and last page (which is all text), but most are hidden within the images themselves.

        I believe the series is extremely effective, fitting her statement to a T and making me really think; about the female identity, history, current culture, symbolism. As an artist deeply interested in the female identity, I think I could learn a lot from her.

To see the full Witch book, as well as more of her work, take a look at her website.
and for a brief interview check out the bit BlackBook mag did on her.




images: andreamarshall.com