Thursday, October 1, 2009

Lucas Gluesenkamp

I've never been really interested in any one artist's work - until I went to the exhibition in our campus art gallery featuring Lucas Gluesenkamp, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I read this upon entering the exhibition,

Artist's Statement:

A collage of mysterious characters caught
in that fatal moment of impending doom.
A random cosmos dealing in absolutes. 70's
idealistic scientific illustration and childhood
dreamscapes. Bleak aggregates. The first time
you rationalized death. Effigies of the living.
Hyperbolic Ennui. A coping mechanism for
dealing with life. Anthropomorphizing the
unknown. Death of the inanimate. Shadows
from the corners of the attic. Grieving the
nonexistent. Prayers for an empty sky. Places
lost behind the stars. Optimistic Failures. The
Eroded words on a gravestone.
A universal sadness. Succumbing to the void.
Plague spirits. A stars death rattle. The coffin
and the sky. Mute tango. Simulacra Mort.
Poor advice from an echo. Places for lost
teeth. Hardships of the forgotten. A nightmare
with little hope to wake up from.
Subterraneous clairy.

A few examples of his work, (picture these on bigger canvas's)

05
1
nipplefishsmall small
brownnspacesmall
They came looking for a dead girl.  How she left is how they will find her.  In fire and lead. 1 (2)
2

Along with paintings, he also does 3D work as well, like the following (which I think is adorable!),

munnysmall
(^Meet Vroom Vroom)

What I am most drawn to is the color explosion of Gluesenkamp's art - the brilliant oranges and blues in particular, which work extremely well with the texture and shapes of the paintings that in a whole really draw the viewer in to the imaginary world being depicted. I feel like I could look for hours and just let my imagination run wild. These paintings are really inspiring, I'd love to have one hanging on my wall!

The link to his seemingly-abandoned blog can be found here.
And the link to his seemingly-abandoned online portfolio: here.

What is your opinion of this art? I'd love to hear it!

3 remarks:

Heidi Rose said...

My first thought: That is a terrible Artist Statement. (I have to write one for my art class, and I would not be able to get away with something like this)

My second thought: Neat-o.

I like the kid with the box on his head. These pictures are rather fantastic, which I like.

Amy Lauren said...

Really? I thought the artist statement was very thought provoking, and of course real artists can get away with anything they want! haha

Katie Marie said...

Sweet! I like the first picture.