Mercedes Helnwein – Dark Surreal Art

Posted on October 22, 2021 by marikokoda under Art, paintings, portraits, vintage

I am super intrigued by the aesthetic of the Austrian artist Mercedes Helnwein. Her talents move around different disciplines as writing, paintings, photography and film making. In this post I will focus on her fab portraits, where each piece seems to suggest us a story.

I enjoy the fact that each character on her paintings seems to hide a mysterious and somewhat dark secret and of course, the vintage look makes the whole creative project even better.

You can also find her on Instagram.

Seen on The Jealous Curator Newsletter.

Inspired – Katie Jean Gilmour

Posted on September 20, 2021 by marikokoda under abstract, Art, collage, nature, Photography

I am super impressed by the magnetic power of the collages by the American artist Katie Jean Gilmour. I found her on Instagram through her official account, but she also opened one just for her paper experiments.

It looks like these are just a way for her to “maintain focus”, with the purpose to switch them in the future into paintings. I really enjoy the freshness of these works, especially because they suggest me a dark secret of some sort.

I hope to see more of her collage works, they are so inspiring!

Albin Sjödin – Sweet Darkness

Posted on September 17, 2021 by marikokoda under cinema, Photography, portraits, Video, vimeo

It looks like each portrait taken from the Swedish photographer and filmmaker Albin Sjödin is surrounded by a crepuscular light.

However it doesn’t suggest me any sense of creepiness of some sort, but it’s more a sweet, silent and soft sensation.

His solitary subjects emerge from darkness, and the soft lights embrace them in a poetic way. You can also check his videos on Vimeo.

Magdalena Lamri Art

Posted on August 22, 2018 by marikokoda under Art, drawings, paintings, portraits

Amazing!

Enjoy the nostalgia mood artworks by the French artist Magdalena Lamri. I love the way she compares humanity and human condition with the majestic nature, creating a “dark fairy tale” final touch.

You can also find Magdalena on Saatchi Art, Facebook and Instagram.

Drawing of a faceless woman.

Dark nostalgia drawings and paintings.

Paintings of a table in the middle of a forest.

Dark nostalgia drawings and paintings.

Drawing of a table placed on a train rail.

Dark nostalgia drawings and paintings.

Painting of a bed in the middle of nature.

Dark nostalgia drawings and paintings.

Drawing of a child and a bed put into a natural landscape.

Dark nostalgia drawings and paintings.

Paintings of a couple sit on a bed surrounded by nature.

Dark nostalgia drawings and paintings.

Drawing of 2 people sit on a bed in the middle of a forest.

Dark nostalgia drawings and paintings.

Paintings of a baby girl into a house with an open wall that faces into a natural landscape.

Dark nostalgia drawings and paintings.

Drawing of a family.

Dark nostalgia drawings and paintings.

Paintings of a wedding couple.

Dark nostalgia drawings and paintings.

Paintings of a kid inside a cardboard box in the middle of nature.

Dark nostalgia drawings and paintings.

Portrait of a table with chair in the middle of a natural landscape.

Dark nostalgia drawings and paintings.

Justin Duffus Paintings

Posted on July 25, 2018 by marikokoda under Art, paintings

Love!

Enjoy the beautiful “blurry” portrait paintings by Justin Duffus.

You can also find the artist on Instagram.

Kid sit on a poolside.

“Blurry” dark vintage style paintings.

Portrait of a kid dressed as Batman and a woman in the background.

“Blurry” dark vintage style paintings.

Portrait of a woman with a mask.

“Blurry” dark vintage style paintings.

Portrait of a baptism into an indoor pool of a young woman.

“Blurry” dark vintage style paintings.

Portrait of a woman dressed in yellow.

“Blurry” dark vintage style paintings.

Group of people at the beach.

“Blurry” dark vintage style paintings.

Group of men surrounding another man in the centre with coloured ribbons.

“Blurry” dark vintage style paintings.

Woman on a pool trampoline.

“Blurry” dark vintage style paintings.

Group of woman with red swimsuits.

“Blurry” dark vintage style paintings.

Catherine Denvir – Dark Fairy Tales

Posted on May 15, 2018 by marikokoda under Art, paintings, saatchi art

Magic!

I love the haunted feeling that the oil paintings by Catherine Denvir suggests me. Each character seems to come out from a dark fairy tale of some sort.

You can also find her on Saatchi Art and Instagram.

portrait of a woman dressed in green bringing a green sweet on a plate.

Dark fairy tales style portraits.

Portrait of a dark character with a green hat staring at a giant pink sweet putted over a table.

Dark fairy tales style portraits.

Portrait of a girl with red pants.

Dark fairy tales style portraits.

Portrait of a woman dressed in red.

Dark fairy tales style portraits.

Portrait of a girl with a red hood.

Dark fairy tales style portraits.

Portrait of a girl in the garden.

Dark fairy tales style portraits.

Portrait of a girl sit on a table with a green grass bowl on it.

Dark fairy tales style portraits.

Portrait of two children.

Dark fairy tales style portraits.

Portrait of a girl in the woods with a blue hood.

Dark fairy tales style portraits.

Portait of a girl sit over a floating table.

Dark fairy tales style portraits.

Portrait of a woman in a yellow dress.

Dark fairy tales style portraits.

Paintings by Jeroen Blok

Posted on March 1, 2018 by marikokoda under Art, paintings, portraits

Beautiful!

I love the sense of dark nostalgia behind these pieces.

The Dutch artist Jeroen Blok uses a neutral palette of beige, black and white colours, to realise dreamy portraits. The solitary subjects of his paintings seems to come out from a quirky circus of some sort.

Kid writing on a table.

Dark nostalgia portraits

Harlequin style portrait.

Dark nostalgia portraits

Woman with glasses portrait.

Dark nostalgia portraits

Smiling harlequin style portrait.

Dark nostalgia portraits

Full body kid portrait.

Dark nostalgia portraits

Man with boxing gloves.

Dark nostalgia portraits

Man writing a letter.

Dark nostalgia portraits

Harlequin style portrait with mask.

Dark nostalgia portraits

Juggler portrait.

Dark nostalgia portraits

Kid writing a letter.

Dark nostalgia portraits

Ann Smart – The Black Series

Posted on February 1, 2018 by marikokoda under Art, Fashion, Illustration, paintings, portraits

Love!

I totally fell in love with The Black Series paintings by the Canadian artist Ann Smart. Each piece is a manipulated glossy fashion shot, where mainstream model shots has been turned into deep-dark subjects.

You can take a look to her works on Saatchi Art, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

Altered fashion shot.

The Black Series

Altered fashion shot.

The Black Series

Altered fashion shot.

The Black Series

Altered fashion shot.

The Black Series

Altered fashion shot.

The Black Series

Altered fashion shot.

The Black Series

Altered fashion shot.

The Black Series

Altered fashion shot.

The Black Series

Altered fashion shot.

The Black Series

Altered fashion shot.

The Black Series

Purple music – I Won’t Complain

Posted on January 17, 2017 by marikokoda under Video, video art, videoclip, youtube

Love it!

Enjoy the warm sounds of I Won’t Complain song performed by Benjamin Clementine, and the surreal dark touch of its beautiful video (directed by Craig McDean and Masha Vasyukova).

Purple Music – UGO

Posted on July 19, 2016 by marikokoda under Animation, Art, Illustration, Music, Video, video art, videoclip

Amazing!

I truly love this 1920 style cartoon animation (with a creepy dark twist) realised by the super talented illustrator McBees. The video was created for UGO single, performed by the rock band Dead Pirates.