Lente Scura, Italian for “dark lens,” has a working name reflecting both the atmosphere and meaning within his art. As he explains in an interview with Urban-Muse, his lens—his point of view—is expressed in a manner that is “surreal and mystical with dark emotional tones.” By combining photo-manipulation with digital painting, he submerges the subjects […]
Category: Nude
Queen of the Double Eyes: Paintings by Alex Garant
After suffering a heart attack in 2012, Toronto-based artist Alex Garant had a renewed perspective on life and decided to devote herself to art full-time. Now, she is known internationally as the “Queen of the Double Eyes,” and aptly so; she paints faces as seen through a daze, with double sets of eyes and lips […]
Presence & Void: Serenely Surreal Paintings by Victor Grasso
The paintings of Victor Grasso are both surreal and ordinary, erotic and innocent, eerie and filled with light. Based in Cape May, New Jersey, Grasso’s work is heavily influenced by the sea, one of his principal muses. One of the many things that makes Grasso so fascinating as a contemporary painter—in addition to the complex […]
A Tattooed Twist on Fantastical Tales by Kati Berinkey
Combining elements of portraiture and fairy tales, Porto-based artist Kati Berinkey tattoos striking busts of women in vibrant, candy-colored hues. They have a sense of movement about them, with tiny lines that convey three-dimensionality. These characters often appear as modern day renditions of classic stories like that of Adam of Eve and Little Red Riding […]
Aesthetics of Melancholy: Poetic Photography by Natalia Drepina
The ghosts of sorrow, tragedy, and loneliness wander the dormant forests of Natalia Drepina’s photography. Based in a small city in Russia, Drepina brings her love for the silence and solitude of the countryside into her art, exploring the way twisted roots, animal bones, and rain-wet earth reflect the chilled tenderness of the soul in […]
BDSM Gayness: Tattoos by Phillippe Fernandez
He was a graphic and motion designer, yet that wasn’t enough, so he began tattooing for fun and that fun became a full-time job. Currently working at AKA Berlin since 2009, the Spaniard Phillippe Fernandez has numerous tattoos resembling scenes from Massive (gay erotic Manga), Tom Finland and Brokeback Mountain. Leather boots and harnesses, police […]
10 Best Films From Berlin Film Festival 2018
The 68th Berlin Film Festival will not go down as a vintage year, with outgoing fest director Dieter Kosslick coming in for more flak, regarding his selection of choices for the main competition. Of course, every festival has more than its fair share of average and bad movies, but festivals—especially ones with major reputations such […]
Minimalist Creature Portraits by Delphine Cencig
Delphine Cencig is a French photographer who discovered her passion for photography after working in various fields, such as cosmetics and visual communication. This diverse background shapes her current work, which is best described as vivid and eclectic; through a combination of photography, fashion, makeup, and digital manipulation, she turns models into dolls, beasts, and […]
Bloody, Beautiful, and Bizarre: Portraits by Karina Marandjian
Karina Marandijan (a.k.a., “daunhaus”) is a Moscow-based artist creating wonderfully weird digitally modified portraits. Her compositions are dark and surreal with a touch of fetish; piercings and wounds mark the body of the ivory-skinned alien-esque subject, creating a bloody contrast of innocence and suffering. The white backdrops resemble a sterile, laboratory-type environment, within which the […]
Rupturing the Norm: Empowering Tattoos by Disinhibition
Disinhibition (a.k.a., Adam Traves) is a Melbourne-based self-taught queer tattoo artist exploring identity and empowerment. He was one of our “10 Tattooers to Look Out for in 2017,” and rightfully so: not only is his style eye-grabbing with its playful distortions and pink-and-red designs, but it celebrates queer identity. Whether he’s tattooing gay erotica, amorous […]