Friedrich Schröder-Sonnenstern

To learn more about the artist click here.
Click the following numbers and the links below to see more art by Soonenstern. 1 - 2 - 3
4 Drawings
3 Drawings
1 Drawing
1 Drawing

Unica Zürn
"In 1953 she met surrealist painter Hans Bellmer in Berlin. She would become his partner and model.

Together with Hans Bellmer, Unica Zürn frequented surrealist circles and befriended people such as Man Ray, André Pieyre de Mandiargues, Henri Michaux and Max Ernst. From 1957 onwards she suffered from depression and was treated at various clinics in France. One of her doctors was Gaston Ferdière, a friend of the surrealists, who was also psychiatrist to Antonin Artaud. Her illness inspired much of her writing, above all Der Mann im Jasmin, written between 1963 and 1965.

She killed herself in 1970 by jumping out of the window of the apartment she shared with Bellmer." quote taken from here.

Here is a description of the strange creatures found in the artwork of Unica Zürn. "Several drawings depict forms that have the amorphous shapes of sea life such as hydras and jellyfish. The creatures are highly adorned and display multiple human eyes, like spots on a peacock feather, as they trail folds of diaphanous flesh. Other sheets feature tight, springy, insectlike elements that sport bent antennae, rigid limbs or vertebrae, and dried wings, but appear to be simply playfully decorative lines as much as living creatures. Still others seem to show one animal combined with another, less a melding of the two than a trapping of one being within another." quote taken from here.


Be sure to downoad this pdf file of a past exhibit with over 70 works by Unica.
2nd Gallery
3rd Gallery
Article
2nd Article

Gaston Duf
I've only been able to find two works by Duf, but based on the story below there seems to be many other fantastic creatures made by Duf. If anyone knows where I can find additional artwork by Gaston Duf, I would really appreciate it!

"Duf's story has all the characteristics of the definitive Outsider: born in 1920, his father a violent drunkard, his childhood and early adult behaviour by turns unruly and withdrawn, he was shut away in an asylum in 1940. About eight years later his pockets were discovered to be stuffed with crumpled drawings: he was given better materials by his doctor, and then set about producing an astonishing bestiary of imaginary creatures. He gave little or no explanation for them, but occasionally referred to unpronounceable mythical figures, a few of which are recognisably voodoo.

Chief amongst these is the monstrous and polymorphous 'Rhinoceros', dozens of variations of which exist, along with appropriately deformed versions of their name. Trunk, limbs and every other feature seem to live an independent life of their own: they metamorphose into leafy, ocular, or fishy shapes, with ragged, hirsute edges. Duf's baroque zoology is grotesque and savage, with an emphatic and brutal sexuality; yet at times its wild invention has an almost satirical feel to it. In page after page, both in monochrome and colour, Duf rehearsed endless variations on his mythical beast, which bore no resemblance to any actual animal, but instead embodied a distilled beastliness, in every sense of the word.

Other figures appear in Duf's menagerie: clownish or scarecrow characters with equally outlandish captions in a suitably jagged script. Then, five years after he had started, Duf gave up drawing and painting and withdrew into an increasingly autistic isolation. We are left guessing. Was his extravagant creative production an apotropaic ritual that ultimately failed in its aim, or did the procession of his creature, so ferocious, but with a tinge of pathos to it, prove somehow overwhelming for him? One thing is certain: Duf's extraordinary panoply of invention came out of nowhere and, just as suddenly, returned to it."

Click here to see another work by Duf.

Chet Zar
Many spooky portraits can be seen here.

Vladimir Gazovic






















Here are some incredibly unusual pictures by Russian artist, Vladimir Gazovic. Some reminded me of the work Terry Gilliam did for Monty Python. My favorites are the 3 at the top of this page.

2nd Gallery
3rd Gallery