Green-eyed Children

Imagine there was a religion where the founding Prophet declared that all green-eyed children should be killed. The religion’s Prophet also declared that his teachings could not be altered or added to in the future because they were given to him directly by God and there would be no further Prophets. As a side note, the Prophet was a pedophile, rapist, and mass murderer that personally tortured and mutilated countless victims.

The Prophet’s religion grew at an astounding rate and over the centuries came to dominate large regions of the world. The followers were by that time mostly good and decent people that chose to overlook the requirement to kill green-eyed children, but there remained a minority that still believed in the holiness of those killings because, after all, God had commanded it.

Then as the world modernized and people could freely gather electronically at any distance a strange thing began to happen. Followers who insisted that the Prophets scripture be strictly adhered to began connecting, getting agitated and demanding a return to the true religion. Some of these zealots went out as individuals and killed green-eyed children while even more gathered, started armed revolutions, and created regions where the green-eyed children could be killed en masse.

The rest of the world reacted in horror and wondered how and why this could be happening. Compassionate leaders urged the population not to blame the religion for the killings, saying that it was a great and peaceful religion with hundreds of millions of civilized followers. They stressed that just a small number of psychopaths were responsible and that questioning the religion was prejudiced and a form of discrimination that would just lead to more killing. Others argued that the only real hope of solving the situation required an honest discussion about the religion itself. These questioners of the religion were mostly mocked and ridiculed as backward bigots by those that saw themselves as more enlightened.

…a work in progress

Dark Claustrophobia

Untitled by Zdzisław Beksiński (1929 - 2005)

notable works by Zdzisław Beksiński

Although Beksiński's art was extremely dark, in person he was known as pleasant, taking pleasure from conversation and many friends enjoyed his quick wit. The final few years of his life were bleak for Beksiński, his wife died after a long painful battle with cancer and his son, Tomasz, committed suicide. In 2005 the son of Beksiński's assistant hacked him to death because he wouldn't lend him the money for a rock concert.

Marché aux Puces

Marché aux Puces  (1950) by Tsuguharu Foujita

artwork at Catmota.com

In 1933. after residing in South and Central America for decades Foujita returned to his homeland Japan where he was greeted as a major figure in the art world. While in Japan, during World War 2, he was a notorious creator of nationalistic propaganda. In 1938 the Japanese Navy's propaganda department encouraged his relocation to China as a war artist. After the war he left Japan and roamed the world but he was often despised for his former militaristic work. Painter Yasuo Kuniyoshi virulently opposed Foujita's exibition at the Kennedy Galleries because he considered Foujita  to be a fascist and a racist.

Iron Man

Iron Man  (2013) by George Condo

notable works by George Condo

Prior to becoming a visual artist George Condo was a reluctant but inspired member of the punk rock synthesizer group known as the The Girls. The group also consisted of modernist painter Mark Dagley, noise musician Dave Hild and underground writer Robin Amos. Only one single was ever released, Jeffrey I Hear You/Elephant Man. It was produced by Dave Thomas from the nascent band Pere Ubu. Immediately following the release Condo met Jean-Michel Basquiat when the Girls opened for Basquiat’s disassembled rock group Gray. After this encounter Condo immediately relocated to Ludlow Street in New York City to begin his career as an abstract painter.

A Boy with Pipe

A Boy with Pipe  (1905) by Pablo Picasso

notable works by Pablo Picasso

During his Rose Period (1904–1906) Picasso’s art had a whimsical cheerful style with orange and pink hues, often including many circus acts, acrobats and clowns. The generally positive mood of paintings in this period is similar of his youthful works before the Blue Period.

Invention, Composition 31

Invention, Composition 31  (1933) by Rudolf Bauer

notable works by Rudolph Bauer

In 1938, after returning from a showing of his work in Paris, the Nazis arrested Bauer for his "diseased" art. A year before this his art had been part of the infamous Degenerate Art show in Munich, put on by the Nazis to show subversive abstract art. Even after this, Bauer had declined to leave Germany. After his arrest Bauer was kept in a Gestapo prison for close to a year, as his influential friends Rebay and Guggenheim labored to get him set free. After several failed efforts, he was finally released without condition in August 1938. While he was imprisoned Bauer created scores of drawings on scraps of salvaged paper. He then made the difficult decision to leave Germany and spent the following months organizing his paperwork. He arrived in the United States in July 1939, just months before the start of World War II. 

Black Sunshine

Black sunshine by Aaron Rands  (2010)

notable works by Aaron Rands

Even though the colors should make this artwork ominous, the uniformity of the black swirls and lack of any obvious danger present something that is superficially non-threatening. There is something of an odd calm quality, despite the obvious turbulence. But why is the orange/red globe emitting twisted black rays? ... maybe it isn't and maybe things are not as benign as they first appear.

Contemplation will reveal the rays are not emanating from the globe, but rather that the globe is hiding the twisted and hideous inception of it's spreading wrath. For if the black rays are the actual central character, the globe then becomes only a protrusion that covers the ominous birth occurring beneath. They have sprouted the orb to deceive viewers, hiding the ugliness that awaits them if they don't quickly turn away. The rays scour everything they touch, stripping them to bleached uniformity. When the rays reach the unseen surface of their world, they undoubtedly dissolve their land into bleak uniformity. It is because of this infecting darkness that this artwork should not be placed in a space for contemplation, it should only be seen in passing.