Pamela Wilson is a California-based artist who paints offbeat characters in surreal worlds. Among her colorful cast are dark-eyed children collecting specimens in the woods, distraught entertainers collapsed in quiet backrooms, and madcaps posing nonchalantly while the horizon burns. Each figure has an air of innocence and agelessness, and each is involved in a mysterious […]
Category: Weird
Darkly Seductive Photography by Funnylens
Note: Contains nudity. The nude photographs of Bangkok-based Funnylens (Tanate Chantanakorn) are stylishly macabre. Channeling an underlining angst, the models curl up in smoky water and large iron tubs, their exposed body parts accentuated by ink-black shadows. Some of them are holding skulls and doll faces over their own; others are strewn with flowers. By […]
Grotesque, Beautiful Life: Sculptures by Russel Cameron
Note: Contains images that may be considered graphic and disturbing to some readers. Russel Cameron is an American, self-taught artist from Brooklyn, New York, who creates sculptures that are grotesque and profound in their representations of life. With skin-like textures and shapes similar to human body parts, each creation looks deformed and unsettling, devoid of […]
Death and Fantasy: Paintings by Takato Yamamoto
Note: Contains nudity. Takato Yamamoto paints gothic scenes that resemble erotic nightmares. He calls his work “Heisei Estheticism,” drawing on the tradition of Japanese woodblock prints and infusing them with images (often violent and sexualized) inspired by modern manga. Recurring motifs include sullen-faced women bound in ropes, rotting corpses festooned with vines, and bloodied vampires […]
Adrian Cox Mutates and Reassembles the Body In Nature
Adrian Cox is a Missouri-based artist who paints “Border Creatures”—organic mutants who defy what we staunchly distinguish as “man” and “nature.” Sometimes they appear humanoid—humorously engaging in intellectual activities, such as painting and stargazing—but their bodies are engulfed with organic debris and sprouting plant life, signifying the messy processes of death and rebirth. In other […]
Desire and Debris: Hyperrealistic Oil Paintings by Till Rabus
Note: Contains nudity. Till Rabus is a Swiss artist who paints hyperrealistic mash-ups of sex, food, mythology, and absurdity. Recalling the tradition of Dutch vanitas, Rabus’ still lifes contain an ominous hodge-podge of items; sex toys sit with false dignity beside garbage and raw meat, awaiting the flies. This surrealism carries over into his scenic […]
Danse Macabre: Darkly Romantic Portraiture by Eliza Kinchington
Note: Contains images that may be considered graphic and disturbing to some readers. Eliza Kinchington is a talented photographer from Australia who combines fashion and fine art into her imaginative shoots. Featured here is “Danse Macabre,” a series made in collaboration with Casey Cooper (creative director), Aaron Simpson (additional photographer), and a team of talented […]
10 Spine-Chilling Movies About Demons and Possession
In 1973, William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” shocked audiences with its convincing portrayal of demonic possession, getting under our skin with slow-burning horror, the fear of godlessness, and the loss of self-control. Mythologies about dark spirits and the underworld have existed across cultures for a long, long time, and possession films tap into our primal fears; […]
United Divides: Surreal Portrait Photography by William Farges
Note: Contains nudity. In “Black Line,” photographer William Farges “cuts” bodies into two, creating a distortion without any digital retouching. The images show models sitting quietly with a black line bisecting them, while hands reach out from several angles to comfort or entice them. In creating this division (or “caesura,” as he describes it), Farges […]
Lingering Spirits in Christopher McKenney’s Surreal Photography
Christopher McKenney is a Pennsylvania-based photographer who combines surrealism with horror. We featured his work in 2013, but in the years since he has created a fascinating body of new work. The images featured here center around McKenney’s recurring motifs of facelessness and fragmentation, which together symbolize the universalizing power of death; shrouded figures appear […]