Incarnation - (oil on panel)
For those of you who know Mark Ryden, you probably feel like you have seen his work your entire life. It has appeared on album covers, book jackets, livejournal icons, among others. Yet he seems so secretive. I know I did not realize who he was for the first few years I knew I liked his art. His work embodies innocence alongside some weird, absurd, or "off" subject matter. His main audience seems to be teenage and pre-teen girls. He especially appreciates using young girls, raw meat, abraham lincoln, and adorably creepy toys in his art. I think this piece works really well (above) His portrayal of meat is so lifelike yet so surreal. We all know there is no way she could support a dress that heavy, yet she does so with grace. Its really lovely and the juxtaposition with the antique garden really makes it pop. The contrast between the meat, the grass, and her skin is soft and then bold the closer we get to her dress. I am not entirely sure what he is trying to say with this piece...most of his pieces are a bit too odd for it to have one specific meaning. This piece reminds me of Lady Gaga, since he often uses celebrities in his work I would not be surprised if it actually was based off her.
I like how you mentioned Lady Gaga b/c that's the first thing I thought of when I saw this image. His choices of subject and setting is very unique and adds mystery to the piece. Although her dress is made of meat, it has a sense of fluidity on her fragile body and adds a bit of elegance which goes along with the fountain and garden behind her.
ReplyDeleteMark Ryden's stuff is so incredibly creepy but also so, so incredibly detailed and beautiful that it's hard to look away...I especially love "64 Goodbye Bear" from "The Tree Show", even if it doesn't have a creepy big-eyed little girl as the main focus.
ReplyDeleteReally sweet, an almost Alice in Wonderland feel to the Lady Gaga reference.
ReplyDeleteI scrolled past this twice, and didn't notice it was meat until the third swing by. It's like some song that has a really upbeat happy melody, but when you pause to listen to the lyrics, you realize how truly morbid or dark the song really is. It's very subtle.
ReplyDeleteI've always found Ryden's scenes to be incredible, and much more like photographs than like illustrations. He handles space and depth really well, which I think is illustrated here.
ReplyDeleteTheres also a weird play between the scene and the meat-dress. Normally, when we think of meat we think of the cold-- to preserve it, but the picture looks like its coming from a relatively warm atmosphere. Gross, and interesting. haha.
I feel like Lady Gaga must have gotten her meat dress idea from this illustrator. Although her dress did not look delicate at all. I agree that this dress looks so delicate and elegant. I looked at it at first and thought it was made of flowers. I really like the botanicals along the river bank. The almost look like they are tattooed into the grass or something.
ReplyDeleteI have seen this guy's work before and I absolutely love it.
ReplyDeleteI first saw his art from the cd Clear Hearts Grey Flowers by Jack Off Jill.