Mark Ryden

[garak]

http://www.markryden.com

discuss.

[file cabinet]

vaguely reminds me of...
renee french, http://www.reneefrench.com/portfolio.htm
and maybe a little like chris mars, http://www.chrismarspublishing.com/ (article about him (http://www.citypages.com/databank/25/1241/article12461.asp))

edit: i don't like how the images can't be easily saved (they would need to be stitched together [on mr ryden's site])

[philonightmare]

Awesome. His style reminds me of Mike Wilks'. One of my favorite (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0670876666/ref=ase_rogerattrillA/103-1798443-7983810?v=glance&s=books) books by him.

[kuranes]

If you go to the Chris Mars site that FC recommends, you'll see all the pix that he's done. I own the one called "Buttons". Mars is a little more affordable than Ryden. The style first caught my eye ( after seeing its beginnings in underground comics ) in a magazine called Juxtapoz, and another called Blab. The editor of Blab is an acquaintance of mine. I enjoy this so-called "low brow" art, which may have been inspired by certain people in the Chicago "Imagists" school, which the recently deceased Ed Paschke was once associated with. Roger Brown, Jim Nutt, and Carl Wirsum were from the Imagists, and they helped along certain tendencies in Pop art that elevated cartoons from being something only for mass market consumption. Wirsum teaches at the Chicago Art Institute. There's another artist whose work is very close to Ryden's, who I cannot think of at the moment, and a local tattooist who's throwing his hat into the ring. Ryden is still arguably at the top of the heap in many ways.
K

[coffeezombie]

Cute kids.

[file cabinet]

kuranes, cool! (and a link for the lazy: http://www.chrismarspublishing.com/buttons.html ) -- i heard about the chris mars guy since he's local (the article i linked to is the one that was in the 'City pages', and I almost went to a showing he had but it was costly for anything.. i even clipped it out and put it somewhere)
so far the only art I've bought:
http://www.intpcentral.com/uploads/iownthisbitch-perrybible-8.jpg (comic strip)
http://cheston.com/pbf/tortuga.html (painting by the same guy who did the strip.. the online version is photoshopped though. it's really just a turtle on a black background).
i also have a collection of self-published/'underground' comics.. i enjoy it mainly for the art.. most of the stories are pretty thin.. i stopped buying them a bit ago but it's something i'll probably get into again at some point.

[kuranes]

Yeah, collecting art is really fun1 I was just at what was once called the "Chicago International Art Show" and now called "Art Chicago", that Thomas Blackman and his wife put on once a year. I discovered someone new from this "cartoon approach" that I really like who is affordable, and met some others also, as well as seeing lots of other good stuff, most of which was out of my reach. On the way home, stopping to eat, I ran into a guy who would like to get something going in Chicago, entertainment-wise. He's supposedly a semi-retired pro, formerly an agent associated with Peter Max and also a TV production ace. His last name is Badolamenti ( Badalomenti? ), and so I naturally asked if he was related to Angelo. "That's my cousin" he answered! So a possible connection to my man David Lynch! Too bad I don't have more product to show him. We'll see what happens. It could be that he thinks I have money to invest in these ideas of his. Naturally I'm thinking it's HIM that will fund things . . . . .LOL. We agreed to get together soon.
K

[kuranes]

Todd Schorr is the guy I was trying to think of.

[file cabinet]

kuranes, are you into any photography? there is one that i like:
http://www.correnticalde.com/joelpeterwitkin/
although some of his stuff is pretty whacky...
i had this one as my background for awhile:
http://www.intpcentral.com/uploads/anonymous_atrocities.jpg

[Hypnos]

blah

[kuranes]

Yeah, I've checked Witkin out before. He's cool. I am into photography artists as well. In fact I collect J.K. Potter art, if you're familiar with him. More dark material.

Also check out the site www.nightphotographer.com. I THINK that's the url.

I used to be a member of something called chicago urban exploration that looked for abandoned factories, tunnels, vacant mental hospitals etc. The group is no more. I can tell you how it ended some time if you're curious. Anyway, the main attraction for me was going to be photos of these places. There are a number of cool sites on the net showing people around the world who do this.

Going a bit beyond what THEY do, I thought it would be fun to hire some models for a shoot, once some good locations could be found. Set up some wild but well-lit scenes. Then my financial crisis hit. . . . .

[MasterMerk]

Mark Ryden's awesome.

http://www.intpcentral.com/uploads/ryden01.jpg

http://www.intpcentral.com/uploads/ryden02.jpg

Very pretty.

[Sally]

*dons snob hat*

Surreal + popgoth. I suppose it had to be done.

He does get a few points for the way he combined them - a classic style makes the popgoth seem more poignant. I'll upgrade that "Meh!" to a "Mmm."

[tragula]

I'm not so much into the Blood ones. But the "bunnies and bees" section in his gallery is great. Very original and haunting. Excellent technique and execution.

In short. Me like!

Good link.

[mgb]

Reminds me of the movie May.

[kafkaesque]

I love Ryden. I think his work is brilliant, but I cannot argue with the surreal+popgoth description. His combination of pop icons and religious imagery is quite poignant.