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| Fantastic Art Virtual exhibition curated by Amie Scally, Curatorial Associate at White Columns, New York |
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| While the presence of the fantastic in art is certainly not new, in recent years there has been an increasing number of artists who embrace the extraordinary in their work. This exhibition presents the work of some of these artists, ranging from the established and revered to emerging artists who are making a significant impact on the art world. The excitement surrounding these artists is evidenced in the proliferation of gallery and museum shows dedicated to their strange yet seductive work. A number of these artists were included in the critically acclaimed 2004 Whitney Biennial. The artists blend the real with the imaginary to create fantasy-based work that may appear naive but upon further inspection reveals a surreal darkness lurking just beneath the surface. John Bankston, Kojo Griffin, Raymond Pettibon, Kerry James Marshall, and Laylah Ali utilize the visual language of cartoons to push past the possible into the bizarre, exploring the harsh reality engrained in social and political issues. In Laura Owens' painting of a colorful rooster, a curious item lurking just outside the frame holds the attention of the rooster and lends the beautifully executed work a sinister air. Disturbing fantasy figures are revealed in the sculpture of Paul McCarthy, Jim Shaw, Nayland Blake and a still from the Kenneth Anger film, Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome. Marcel Dzama, Jonathan Pylypchuk and The Royal Art Lodge create hybrid characters that are at once both ominous and sadly sweet. The resulting psychological tension is reminiscent of classic fables. In the same manner, Amy Cutler employs snippets of folktale imagery in her drawings of women engaged in strange activities, rendering them both pleasant and foreboding. Kiki Smith’s print possesses a child-like whimsy that is offset by the unsettling animal hybrids that are flying away into the distance, Amy Sillman uses doodles of human heads to populate her otherwise abstracted fantasy scene with undertones of melancholy. |
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 The Fabulists Garden #1 John Bankston Jack Shainman Gallery |
 Untitled (Execution) Kojo Griffin Miller Block Gallery |
 No title (It was down the...) Raymond Pettibon BFAS Blondeau Fine Art Services SA |
 Souvenir I Kerry James Marshall Jack Shainman Gallery |
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 Untitled Laylah Ali 303 Gallery |
 Untitled (LO 270) Laura Owens Crown Point Press Gallery |
 Masks (performance props) Paul McCarthy Patrick De Brock Gallery |
 Dream Object (I was working on a piece that was like a human torso, possibly real, and I was placing objects in the head that was like a cupboard...) Jim Shaw Metro Pictures |
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 Untitled Royal Art Lodge (Michael Dumontier, Marcel Dzama, Neil Farber) Houldsworth |
 Inaugration of the Pleasure Dome Kenneth Anger SCAI The Bathhouse/Shiraishi Contemporary Art Inc. |
 How we lost Marcel Dzama Timothy Taylor Gallery |
 "Come Away From Her" After Lewis Carroll Kiki Smith Lemberg Gallery |
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 Heavenly Bunny Suit Nayland Blake Matthew Marks Gallery |
 Birding Amy Cutler Blumenfeld/Lustberg Fine Art . |
 A Field Guide Amy Sillman Riverhouse Editions/van Straaten Gallery |
 Untitled (tree puking in bird's mouth) Jon Pylypchuk Friedrich Petzel Gallery |
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Amie Scally is Curatorial Associate at White Columns. White Columns, New York’s oldest alternative space, is dedicated to showing the work of emerging and under-recognized artists. Currently on view at White Columns through December 5 is “Crude Oil Paintings”, curated by Elena Sorokina and White Rooms Todd Anderson and Thomas Brouillette. For more information please visit www.whitecolumns.org |
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