In an art world that often treats accessibility and profundity as enemies, Spanish artist Jesús Aguado has spent the last decade proving they might be secret collaborators. While most contemporary surrealists trace their lineage through prestigious academies, Aguado (b. 1976) spent twenty years in the trenches of commercial illustration—creating textbook art for Santillana, National Geographic, and children’s publishers across the globe. Rather than limiting his potential, this foundation became his greatest asset.

When Aguado transitioned to oil and acrylic painting around 2017-2018, he wasn’t just changing mediums—he was quietly engineering a new kind of surrealism that invites viewers in before blowing their minds. His “chimerical, often anthropomorphic figures” populate dream worlds that feel both fantastical and emotionally urgent, proving that commercial sensibilities and fine art depth can enhance rather than contaminate each other.

From Valladolid to Universal Language

Aguado’s artistic DNA was forged not in gallery spaces but in publishing deadlines. Born in Valladolid in 1976, he earned his Fine Arts credentials at the University of Salamanca before diving into two decades of editorial illustration. His client roster—spanning from Spanish textbook giant Santillana to publishers across Taiwan—provided intensive training in universal visual communication. When your art must work for Spanish schoolchildren and Taiwanese readers alike, you learn something profound about crossing cultural boundaries through imagery.

This wasn’t mere commercial work; it was a masterclass in making complex ideas accessible. Twenty years of editorial constraints built creative pressure that finally exploded into fine art—not as rebellion against his past, but as mastery seeking new expression.

Baroque Surrealism: When Old Masters Meet Comic Books

Aguado’s breakthrough came from an unlikely fusion: Renaissance technique meets comic book imagination. A self-proclaimed “comics fan” who happens to master classical methods, he creates what critics call “Renaissance beauty impregnated with the darkest baroque”—academic poetry that captures something genuinely revolutionary.

His compositions pulse with dramatic chiaroscuro borrowed from Caravaggio and the horror vacui (fear of empty space) of Rubens, but applied to fantastical creatures that could populate a cosmic graphic novel. The result is “Baroque Surrealism”—art that throbs with classical emotionality while bubbling with irreverent humor.

The Density Principle

Aguado’s canvases operate like visual novels, packed with narrative threads that reward sustained looking. His paintings are “a feast for the eyes full of bold colors and a myriad of animals, plants and creatures, blending one world with many others.” This isn’t chaos—it’s strategic overwhelm that mirrors the information density of our digital age while offering refuge from it.

His recurring cast—dragons representing ferocity, rabbits embodying cuteness, worms suggesting the grotesque—creates a bestiary of “dual animated beings that parade on the edge of the endearing and the disturbing.” By largely banishing humans from his compositions, Aguado creates universal characters that viewers can project onto without demographic barriers.

Technical Alchemy: Light as Philosophy

Aguado’s signature technique builds meaning through method. His acrylic glazing creates translucent layers that capture and bounce light between surfaces, transforming paint into luminosity that makes impossible creatures feel tangibly present. Each layer builds translucency, creating his signature shimmer that rewards close examination—a deliberate antidote to digital-age instant consumption.

Significantly, he paints on traditional wood panels and birch supports used by Renaissance masters. This isn’t nostalgia but strategic dialogue with art history. The classical weight of wood lends gravitas to whimsical subjects, while contemporary techniques inject new life into historical formats. It’s Hieronymus Bosch reimagined with modern psychology and comic book sensibilities.

The Father’s Transformation: Art Meets Life

The most significant development in Aguado’s career came in 2023 with the birth of his son. Fatherhood hasn’t sentimentalized his work—it’s deepened it. “Since he was born, I’ve been thinking a lot about life, about the crucial moments in a person’s development, both on a personal and general level, as well as a metaphysical one.”

This biographical shift sparked his latest series, “Life Milestones,” where octopus stumps garden with lobster claws and winged caterpillar mothers wield hammers during mitosis. These aren’t random surreal images—they’re visual metaphors for those transformative moments that “changed your course” or became “embedded in the deepest part of your being.”

“Experiencing life through your child again makes you think and reconsider everything you’ve been through in life,” Aguado reflects. His exploration of existential paradoxes now carries parental urgency, creating works that are simultaneously “metaphorical—and funny” while representing life’s most significant passages.

Psychological Architecture: Building Sanctuaries for Overstimulated Minds

Aguado’s mission cuts straight to our contemporary condition. He wants viewers to “feel far away from everything” because our world is “filled with too much information and opinions” that he finds “exhausting.” This isn’t artistic pretension—it’s cultural diagnosis with a visual prescription.

His “constant exploration of life’s paradoxes” creates what he calls spaces where “joy and darkness coexist” and where “light and love are appreciated after experiencing darkness.” The result is art that captures “vivacious ecstasy of tranquil joy” while refusing to offer easy emotional solutions.

His “absurd yet symbolic satires” function as pressure valves for information-overloaded audiences. By creating spaces where “free play of our imaginations” is essential rather than optional, he offers something increasingly rare: permission to stop processing and start feeling.

Beyond Movement: The Future of Accessible Profundity

While Aguado has conquered the Lowbrow/Pop Surrealism movement, his sophisticated fusion of classical techniques with existential themes suggests he’s outgrowing those boundaries. His third solo exhibition with Arch Enemy Arts since 2020 represents more than career momentum—it’s evidence of sustained institutional confidence in an artist bridging commercial appeal with intellectual depth.

Aguado has achieved something remarkable: he’s created a completely new visual language that feels both ancient and urgently modern. In a cultural moment when escapism often feels like surrender, he offers escape that expands rather than diminishes consciousness.

His legacy may well be proving that surrealism didn’t need to choose between emotional accessibility and intellectual depth, between pop appeal and art historical significance. In a field obsessed with either/or thinking, he’s built his reputation on “and/both” solutions—the kind of paradoxical thinking our complex world desperately needs.

The Bottom Line

Jesús Aguado has spent a decade proving that an artist’s commercial background can become their fine art superpower. By refusing to abandon his roots in universal visual communication, he’s created surrealism for the 21st century—art that offers psychological refuge while expanding consciousness, that makes the profound approachable without dumbing it down. In an era demanding navigation of contradiction with grace, Aguado has created the visual vocabulary we need.

LIFE MILESTONES by Jesus Aguado

Is currently on display at Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia.

On view: May 24 – June 15, 2025
Location: Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia
Opening Reception: First Friday, June 6, 2025

Learn more: archenemyarts.com/

Works Cited

1. Jesus Aguado (artist page) – Arch Enemy Arts, https://www.archenemyarts.com/ap-jesusaguado
2. Jesús Aguado – Artworks for Sale & More | Artsy, https://www.artsy.net/artist/jesus-aguado/about
3. Jesus Aguado’s LIFE MILESTONES feature, 2025 – Arch Enemy Arts, https://www.archenemyarts.com/lifemilestones2025
4. Jesús Aguado | The Creator (2021) – Artsy, https://www.artsy.net/artwork/jesus-aguado-the-creator
5. ‘No. 1’ by Jesús Aguado – WOW x WOW, https://wowxwow.com/shop/nocturnal-bloom/no-1-jesus-aguado
6. Jesus Aguado New Works – Haven Gallery, https://havengallery.com/portfolio/jesus-aguado-new-works/
7. NEWS & SPECIALS – Dorothy Circus Gallery, https://www.dorothycircusgallery.com/blog/author/2/
8. Jesús Aguado “Dragons, Rabbits and Worms” – Haven Gallery, https://havengallery.com/portfolio/jesus-aguado-dragons-rabbits-and-worms/
9. Jesús Aguado | Dog and Garlic (2025) | Available for Sale – Artsy, https://www.artsy.net/artwork/jesus-aguado-dog-and-garlic
10. Jesus Aguado’s EXOTICISMS solo, 2024 – Arch Enemy Arts, https://www.archenemyarts.com/exoticisms2024
11. jesus aguado – Blacklight Art Gallery, https://blacklightartgallery.com/gallery/jesus-aguado/
12. Jesús Aguado, New Works 2024 – Haven Gallery, https://havengallery.com/portfolio/jesus-aguado-new-works-2024/
13. Jesús Aguado | Biography | Art collection online for sale on Kooness, https://www.kooness.com/artists/jesus-aguado
14. The irreverent and baroque art of Jesus Aguado – Tattoo Life, https://www.tattoolife.com/the-irreverent-and-baroque-art-of-jesus-aguado/
15. Jesus Aguado | Available Art & Bio – Beinart Gallery, https://beinart.org/collections/jesus-aguado
16. Jesús Aguado | The Night of Bones (2024) – Artsy, https://www.artsy.net/artwork/jesus-aguado-the-night-of-bones
17. Jesús Aguado – The Creative – Original Artwork – Modern Eden Gallery, https://www.moderneden.com/products/the-creative
18. From canvas to twilight: cute and creepy surrealistic paintings by Jesús Aguado – Visualflood, https://visualflood.com/post/cute-and-creepy-surrealistic-paintings-by-jesus-aguado
19. Lux Ferre by Jesús Aguado | Fine art Paintings for sale on Kooness, https://www.kooness.com/artworks/jesus-aguado-lux-ferre-paintings
20. Jesús Aguado – Bones and Joy | Beinart Gallery, https://beinart.org/collections/jesus-aguado-bones-and-joy
21. Beautiful Bizarre curated exhibition ‘Paracosmic Escape’ at Modern Eden Gallery [Art Direction: Musonium Gallery], https://beautifulbizarreartprize.art/beautiful-bizarre-curated-exhibition-paracosmic-escape-at-modern-eden-gallery-art-direction-musonium-gallery/
22. Jesus Aguado | 41 Exhibitions and Events | MutualArt, https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Jesus-Aguado/B07797A227F00D44/Exhibitions

Known alternatively as the Lowbrow movement, Pop Surrealism is an art form that originated in LA’s underground scene in the 1970s. Like other surrealist art forms, lowbrow art strives to reach deep into the unconscious mind and bring to life our innermost thoughts. Our compulsions, hidden memories, and more are displayed in unusual and absurd ways, no matter how light or dark. In this movement, however, artists draw inspiration from popular culture. In a pop surrealist collage, an artist may take inspiration from cartoons, street art, various music scenes, comics, pinups, and modern-day brands, amongst other things.

Pop surrealism is all about breaking the rules of conventional art— that’s why lowbrow artists strive to make up their own. Some critics turn their noses up at this art movement and, at times, even question its validity. Nonetheless, pop surrealists understand the power of borrowing aspects of pop culture and turning them on their head to create something unique, that connects with audiences in an utterly profound way.

Are you interested in learning more about the lowbrow movement? Take a look at the following profiles of some of the world’s best pop surrealist collage artists. 

Some of Today’s Best Lowbrow and Collage Artists

Side Dimes

Mikayla Lapierre is a Brooklyn based art director with a strong background in advertising design and graphic design. Lapierre’s works, self-titled “Side Dimes”, dissect the cultural and societal norms surrounding femininity. In most of her works, she takes 18th and 19th-century portraiture and digitally imprints modern-day items that the women in her pieces interact with. The women in these classical portraits can be seen chewing bubblegum, posing with fast food, and wearing branded jewelry. In her most recent series, Lapierre experiments with personal protective equipment and stacks of toilet paper in her Social Distancing Series — a response to the current events surrounding COVID-19. 

Linz Sepe

San Diego artist Lindsey “Linz” Sepe is known for her otherworldly prints. The events in her works feel as though they are happening on another planet, or perhaps even an Earth in another dimension. From skateboarding on Saturn’s rings to lounging on the moon to trippy time warps, Sepe’s works are far from boring to look at. West-coast beach pop influences are highly apparent in Sepe’s pieces. She often incorporates vintage photos of bikini-clad models, palm trees, vintage architecture, and intense pops of color.

Jeff Drew Pictures

Jeff Drew is a musician, animator, and graphic designer. Where he’s gaining increasing notoriety, however, is his surrealist artwork. Drew takes inspiration from a seemingly endless number of sources, but perhaps the two most apparent are vintage movie (as well as burlesque) posters and the world of the occult. Much like a deck of tarot cards, Drew encapsulates many of his works with elaborate borders and labels his creations with bold graphic titles or descriptions. Drew often plays with the concept of duality, whether it’s through the literal use of masks or the interpretation of beloved television characters as more than what they seem. 

Tyler Varsell

Artist and illustrator Tyler Varsell is based in Connecticut. Her works have been published in esteemed publications like the New York Times and Kolaj Magazine. Varsell uses collage as a means of identifying and questioning our world. Though her emotional intent varies between works, as with all artists, Varsells works have a tranquil and even comforting quality about them. Varsell’s collages mesh symbols of her own subconscious thoughts and memories with appealing landscapes and symbols that bring a smile to the viewer’s face. After all, what food lover wouldn’t want to smother themselves in a bed of mac & cheese?

Taudalpoi

Tau Dal Poi (stylized online as “Taudalpoi”) is a Norweigan artist based currently in London. His works are simpler in design than some of the other artists on this list, but no less expertly crafted. Taudalpoi’s mixes awe-inspiring cosmic graphics with natural landscapes, or pieces of modern architecture — or, in some cases, both. The human subjects in his prints are often miniaturized, causing the viewer to reflect on how small we truly are in this vast universe. While other artists push to make showcase this fact as sobering, or even disheartening, Taudalpoi’s subjects enjoy the expanse, feeling joy, tranquility, freedom, and power. As a result, we feel the same. 

Phil Jones

Artist and product designer Phil Jones has an incredible sense of humor, which he imbues in nearly everything he creates. Jones works across a variety of mediums, including film, photography, and design. If you aren’t aware of his “Lord of the Flies” swatter, you should be. The majority of Jones’ artwork is more print than collage work, and these prints are minimalist in nature. Nonetheless, they are surrealist works that comment on various aspects of popular culture. Jones makes it his challenge to take idioms and puns and turn them into lighthearted pictures that are bound to make you smile.

Lorien Stern

Graphic and ceramic artist Lorien Stern runs her brand out of Inyokern California. In her work, her intention is to bring joy to her audience through her rounded and inviting designs and comforting subject matter. Stern’s main subjects are animals of several varieties. She displays keen interests in predators and marine life (mainly sharks), the intimidating features of which she disarms with bright colors and bright prints. In her creations, Stern takes these real-life animals and turns them into surreal creations — fantasy creatures that leave adults and children alike in awe.

Heather Heininge

The works of Heather Heininge blur the lines between surrealist collage and reality. The stunning landscapes in her prints are so artfully crafted together, you might confuse them for photographs of real places. While this bafflement is a coveted reaction by most artists in the world of lowbrow, Heininge’s collages are anything but true to life. Heininge often experiments with doorways and portals to other worlds. Her human subjects are nearly always in a state of travel or contemplation — perhaps a purposeful reflection on the human desire to search for more on both spiritual and physical plains. 

Luisa Azevedo

Based in Lisbon, Portugal, Luisa Azevedo has turned heads in the art world since she was 18 years old. Azevedo started experimenting with surrealism in 2015. After some practice, she began to develop her own unique style a year later. She began using real-life photographs of locations, objects, and animals to build fantasy creations that any Hollywood exec would beg to use as conceptual work for their next big feature. In her efforts to satisfy her need for magic, Azevedo has used flora and fauna to create hundreds of fantastical creatures and environments that anyone would hope to visit.  

Justine Henderson

Expert photographer and salsa maker extraordinaire, Justine Henderson is also beginning to dive into the world of pop surrealism. In her collage work, Henderson experiments with wide-open spaces like desert plains, empty roads, and serene mountain ranges. Her sources are typically vintage, as seen in her use of a gun-slinging western hero in her print, The Gods Must Be Crazy. In each piece, she gives her audience an intriguing focal point, which is often out-of-place in contrast to the rest of the setting. Though her catalog of collage work is currently limited, her pieces have gained high favor in the art community.

Mr.babies

A self-described “psychedelic analog collage artist”, the Arizona-based Mr.babies is well on his way to becoming a household name in the world of surrealist art. Mr.babies uses collage as a form of meditation and reflection. He starts with a vintage base and works digitally to create a psychedelic symphony of mind-blowing imagery. His expertly crafted collages are at times so intricate that one could spend hours finding new meaning in every square inch. At other times, Mr.babies delivers simpler works meant to convey a single message or emotion.

Irie Wata

Irie Wata’s collages can be identified for their tendencies to bend the physical rules of our world. In her prints, you can find people frolicking and driving their cars in the sky, playing pool on the moon, and relaxing by the world’s literal edge. Wata creates a stark dichotomy in each and every one of her pieces. She mixes the activities of everyday living with environmental oddities and even catastrophic events. Though her interpretation can vary between viewers, Wata seems to illustrate humanity’s ignorance of the beauty of our planet – and the catastrophe we cause when we take it for granted.  

Richard Vergez

Born in Philadelphia and currently based in South Florida, Cuban-American artist Richard Vergez uses collage to showcase his ideas and perspectives on how human beings interact with each other. Vergez’s work has been featured in New York, Chicago, Londo, France, and Argentina, among others. His mixed-media collages are often minimalist works — a few special elements chosen to help Vergez create profound stories. Nearly all of his works are human-centric; his subjects are often depicted in mid-action or altered to showcase specific ideas about the human psyche. 

As you can see from the wondrous works of these artists, pop surrealism varies significantly in design and execution. Pop culture is vast, and an artist could head in any direction when developing concepts and deciding which media they should use to convey them. This, however, is what makes pop surrealist collage work so profound.

One hundred years ago, with their world on the brink of chaos, a pack of misfits called “The Surrealists” banded together to make art that would reject logic and reason, with a goal of saving humanity by highlighting the absurdity of life. They were sort of like an artsy Garageband, improv troupe, and fight club all wrapped into one.

In this series, we are rebooting this idea by dropping Salvador Dalí, Frida Kahlo and friends into 2019, arming them with today’s technology and social media, and letting them go bananas! We will watch these creators launch a surrealist revolution from their clubhouse, engaging in bizarre video art projects and hedonist behavior, achieving fame and infamy, and struggling to preserve their ideals while becoming drunk with fame and fortune. Or to put it more plainly: it’s Moulin Rouge meets Silicon Valley! Or Girls with Dali and Frida!

We will also refer to, and periodically see, elements of this bizarro 21st century that parallel the history of the 1900s. Imagine Hitler is on Twitter, Charlie Chaplin’s doing rom coms, Louis Armstrong is dropping music vids, and Sigmund Freud is giving Ted Talks. These glimpses of that world will be provided by what the main characters see on their tablets, phones, and laptops, and well as cameos by secondary characters coming in and out of their scene.

By melding these centuries together we will be able to use these iconic figures from history to comment on and better understand the times we live in and the cyclical patterns of humanity that never seem to change. We will deal with timely issues like art’s ability to effect change, the difference between how we present ourselves and actually live, and how the temptations of fame and fortune can change one’s ideals. All the while we will be telling the very real story of how the surrealist movement started, progressed, and disbanded while giving viewers the joy of seeing what these brilliant artists would do with modern technology and social media.

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The Surrealists is a short film about Salvador Dalí and the birth of the Surrealist movement…if it happened today.

About

One hundred years ago, a rogue Freudian psychologist named André Breton and his wild posse of artists that included Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Frida Kahlo, Man Ray and others, launched a “revolution of the mind” called “Surrealism.” This revolution, which started as an exercise in exploring the unconscious mind, became a cultural phenomenon, thanks to a young entrepreneur named Peggy Guggenheim.

Why Make This Film Now?

The story of these artists reacting to a world that no longer makes sense feels as fresh today as it ever has. That is why I am making a film that will tell the story of the surrealist movement if it were to happen today, with these famous artists as millennial creators on social media, reacting to a chaotic world. I have pitched this story to several networks and studios they thought it was “too out there” for viewers. I think they are wrong and I want you to help me prove them so. A donation, however small, to “The Surrealists” is a vote for celebrating these great artists and telling their fascinating story in a very modern way, while drawing important parallels between our world and theirs.

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About The Film Maker

Trevor Williams is a filmmaker who specializes in delivering unique, slick, and funny content for TV and Web. His directing, editing and writing credits include Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, The New Yorker, and IFC, as well as commercial clients such as UPS, Samsung, and Hi-Chews. He has won several awards for his web-series and short films. Trevor first cut his teeth in showbiz as a comedian and commercial actor before becoming an in-house director of scores of video at UCB Comedy. In 2013, he co-founded Pig Apple, a production company that specializes in live-action, animation, and kickstarted short films such as “The Jane” and “The Surrealists”!

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Artist Statement

I imagine a world where the visually rich language of fairy tales and nursery rhymes extends into adulthood. The traditional nature of this kind storytelling is best presented with visual aids; simple, straightforward text accompanied by fantastic illustrations. In our culture, this is a conventional part of our collective upbringing and experience. These stories often convey lessons, which are coded in familiar, symbolic language, and are likely where we first encounter metaphor and allegory.

We carry these symbolic codes into adulthood—like wolf equals bad, pig equals good. The narratives I deliver in my paintings utilize this common trove of visual references; however with more mature and timely messages.

The intertwined relationship between language and image has always guided me in constructing my artwork—using visual puns, symbolic themes and literal translations from words into paintings. Often the compositions and assemblies of characters seem to clash in a surreal incongruence, but on some level, they relate by a verbal association or some idiomatic commonality. My aim is to exploit these visual conventions and present something visually arousing with dynamic color and compelling content.

The level of “payoff” sophistication that the viewer “gets” from the paintings is relative to their own personal experience and history. There may be universal themes revealed, and there may be idiosyncratic dead ends. There is no correct reading of the images other than what the viewer extracts on their own. Even my opinion and the depth of what they mean to me may change from day to day.

Biography

Stephen Gibb lives and works in the small town of Amherstburg, in southern Ontario, Canada and maintains a second studio in Windsor. He earned a B.F.A. in visual arts from the University of Windsor and is currently represented by the St. Germain gallery in Toronto. Among the cities he has exhibited in are San Diego, Sacramento, and Hollywood— the hotbed of California’s Lowbrow and Pop Surrealism community. His work is collected around the globe and has gained widening interest since working on the album art for hip hop artist Trippie Redd.

Links:

facebook.com/bubblegumsurrealism/
instagram.com/stephengibbart/
stephengibb.com/gallery/

Add “Sorry To Bother You” to the mix and there appears to be an Afro-Surrealism resurgence in Black cinema.

Surrealism is the 20-century avant-garde artistic and literary movement that sought to stir the creative potential of the unconscious mind position seemingly irrational imagery adjacent to one another. Artist Salvador Dali is among the most respect of that era.

Surrealism in film draws upon many of the philosophical principles as in the art world, using shocking, irrational and absurd imagery to challenge conventional reality. American filmmaker David Lynch’s Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive are each considered among the best contemporary examples of this technique, while Alfred Hitchcock and Rod Serling were said to have each incorporated some surrealist ideals in their works.

First coined in 2009 by New Jersey’s Poet Laureate Amiri Baraka, Afro Surrealism focuses on the present day experience of African Americans as interpreted via artistic endeavor.

Read the full article at theshadowleague.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM1YpntE840

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaBGcorkzpk

What is Afro-Surrealism?

Afro-Surrealism or Afrosurrealism is a literary and cultural aesthetic that is a response to mainstream surrealism in order to reflect the lived experience of people of color. First coined by Amiri Baraka in 1974,^[1] this movement focuses on the present day experience of African Americans. Afro-Surrealism is based on the manifesto written by D. Scot Miller, in which he says, “Afro-Surrealism sees that all ‘others’ who create from their actual, lived experience are surrealist…” The manifesto delineates Afro-Surrealism from Surrealism and Afro-Futurism. The manifesto also declares the necessity of Afro-Surrealism, especially in San Francisco, California. The manifesto lists ten tenants that Afro-Surrealism follows including how “Afro-Surrealists restore the cult of the past,” and how “Afro-Surreal presupposes that beyond this visible world, there is an invisible world striving to manifest, and it is our job to uncover it.”

Via Wikipedia.

About Beth Hoeckel

Beth Hoeckel is a multidisciplinary artist and illustrator from Baltimore.

She earned a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she studied painting, photography, and printmaking— but her main area of expertise is in the medium of collage. Beth began her first widely-known series of collages in 2010, and has been a full-time freelance artist since 2012. Over the past 5 years her work has been exhibited around the world and published in many prestigious books and magazines.

Beth can currently be found creating collage and mixed media art for arts’ sake, as well as illustrating for a variety of clients including Rookie, Domino, The New York Times, and many more.

Beth Hoeckel Collage

Background

Frank Moth is an Artist duo based in Veria, Greece. They explore universal concepts of love, humility, truth, nostalgia and forgiveness in colorful, surreal floral portraits and futuristic retro compositions.

They create nostalgic postcards from the future using mostly the digital collage technique in a struggle for eternity through pixels.

Frank Moth Deep Dive

Introduction: A Concise Overview of Frank Moth

Frank Moth is an artist duo based in Veria, Greece, known for their distinctive digital collages that blend vintage aesthetics with surreal and futuristic elements. Established in 2014, the duo consists of Eleftherios S. and Marianna M., who use the alias Frank Moth to explore universal themes such as love, nostalgia, and the human condition through their art. Their work is characterized by the use of vibrant color palettes and the juxtaposition of retro imagery with modern concepts, creating “nostalgic postcards from the future” that evoke a sense of timelessness and emotional depth. Frank Moth’s art has been featured in numerous publications, including Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, and MTV Greece, and has been showcased in galleries worldwide

Artist Statement

The compositions are mainly human-centered. The presence of the human element is obvious, yet perpetually incomplete. There’s always something missing, interrupted, or covered. The face, for example, is usually covered and many times it’s not even there, so as to not surrender its vulnerable introspection, insecurity, and psychic truth without a fight.

Artistic Style and Techniques of Frank Moth

Creative Process

The duo behind Frank Moth begins each piece with an idea or concept, followed by sourcing and curating images from various vintage sources. Using digital manipulation techniques, they skillfully blend these elements into visually captivating compositions with cohesive color palettes. Through their creative process, they breathe new life into old imagery, transforming it into thought-provoking contemporary art.

Digital Collage Technique

Frank Moth is renowned for their unique approach to digital collage. Their technique involves sourcing vintage images from various databases, including library and museum archives, as well as old magazines from the 1960s and 1970s. These images are meticulously curated and then digitally manipulated to create cohesive, visually striking compositions. The use of digital tools allows them to blend elements seamlessly, creating a harmonious balance between the old and the new.

Color Palettes and Aesthetics

Frank Moth’s use of color is distinctive and immediately recognizable. Their palettes often feature retro hues that evoke a sense of nostalgia, yet they are applied in a way that feels fresh and contemporary. This combination of vintage colors with modern design elements creates a timeless aesthetic that appeals to a wide audience. The duo’s ability to create “nostalgic postcards from the future” is a testament to their skill in blending the past with the present.

Themes and Symbolism

Thematically, Frank Moth’s work explores universal concepts such as love, nostalgia, depersonalization, and the human condition. Their art frequently juxtaposes elements of the natural world, such as florals and space imagery, with human figures and urban settings. This juxtaposition creates a surreal, dreamlike quality that invites viewers to reflect on their own experiences and emotions.

Influences and Inspirations

Frank Moth draws inspiration from a wide range of sources, including pop culture, retro sci-fi book covers, and historical art movements. Their work pays homage to the bygone eras of the 20th century while incorporating modern themes and techniques. This blend of influences results in a unique style that is both nostalgic and forward-looking. The duo’s personal experiences and the cultural milieu of the decades they grew up in also play a significant role in shaping their artistic vision.

Nostalgia and Emotional Connection

A key aspect of Frank Moth’s work is its ability to evoke a sense of nostalgia. By using familiar yet distant imagery, their art connects with viewers on an emotional level, often conjuring memories or associations with the past. This emotional resonance is a crucial element of their appeal, as it allows audiences to engage with their work in a deeply personal way.

Depersonalization/Derealization

In many of Frank Moth’s works people are pictured gazing upon themselves and their own lives on Earth from some distant point in outer space. The perspective of all things always seems to be on a strange verge, between a dream and an urban daily life.

The smothering failure of man to define and refine happiness today within geographic, temporal, and material {technological and consumerist} bounds, is repeatedly alluded to through the use of old, manipulated paper ads from decades past, as well as old fashion magazines.

Revision/Revival/Rebirth/Insecurity

Many of the artworks feature a subtle expression of companionship or the silent, solitary, obsessive search for it {the people usually have their backs turned and there is a hint of movement in the scenery}, combined with the surreal size disproportion and the disturbed relation between man and his environment/surroundings.

Obsession/Music/Pixels/Architecture

This is an attempt to create harmony between people and their surroundings, however imaginary, by using the eternal elements of colors, numbers, simple geometric shapes, symmetry, and subtraction, as well as universal words and concepts like “love”, “together”, “forever”, “never”, “infinity”, “why”.

Influences

Frank Moth’s distinctive style draws from a wide range of inspirations, including other collage artists, historical art movements, and personal experiences. Their nostalgic aesthetic often pays homage to the bygone eras of the 20th century, blending vintage elements with modern concepts. This juxtaposition of old and new reflects a deep appreciation for the past while acknowledging the ever-evolving nature of artistic expression.

Nostalgia

In their collages, Frank Moth evokes a sense of nostalgia through the use of familiar yet distant imagery. This allows viewers to connect with their art on an emotional level, as it often conjures memories or associations with the past. By blending the old with the new, they create a timeless appeal that transcends generations, inviting audiences to reflect on their own personal histories and experiences.

Exhibition Highlights and Reception

Frank Moth’s work has been showcased in numerous galleries and exhibitions worldwide, garnering critical acclaim and recognition in the art community. Publications such as Huffington Post US, Buzzfeed, and MTV Greece have featured their captivating collages, further solidifying their reputation as innovative and thought-provoking artists.

Future Projects and Aspirations

As Frank Moth continues to evolve, the duo remains committed to exploring new themes, techniques, and collaborations in their work. They aspire to push the boundaries of digital collage art and engage with a wider audience through exhibitions, online platforms, and other creative outlets.

Purchasing and Collecting Frank Moth’s Art

Frank Moth’s captivating digital collages are readily accessible to art enthusiasts through many platforms, and our favorites are Society6 and Big Wall Decor.

Society6 offers a wide range of Frank Moth’s artwork on various products, from high-quality art prints to home decor items. This platform allows fans to integrate Frank Moth’s nostalgic futurism into their daily lives through affordable and diverse options.

Big Wall Decor specializes in oversized prints of Frank Moth’s work for those seeking larger, statement pieces, perfect for creating striking focal points in homes or offices. Both platforms ensure the authenticity of the prints, providing art lovers with genuine Frank Moth pieces.

While these sites focus primarily on reproductions, they occasionally offer limited edition runs, giving collectors opportunities to acquire more exclusive pieces. To stay informed about new releases, special editions, or promotional offers on these platforms, following Frank Moth’s social media channels and subscribing to their newsletter is highly recommended. This approach allows buyers to access Frank Moth’s art through reputable sources while tailoring their purchases to their specific preferences and spaces.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Casey Weldon crafts surreal, sometimes absurd paintings that play with the everyday and the otherworldly alike. … “Weldon gambols with the manipulation of scale and contrast to create otherworldly scenes, as though pulled from the cavities of the unconscious and its latent thread-like associations,” the gallery says. “The works alternate between moments of intense darkness and incandescent light, figuratively and literally. Saturated with lush color and detail, they are stylized by idiosyncratic palette choices that capture a range of brightness and atmosphere, from the intensity of neon to the lambent of dusk and the recesses of twilight obscurity.”

via hifructose
caseyweldon.com

With stunning cinematography (and no CGI), director Oscar Hudson pays homage to Japan’s social phenomenon of ‘Hikikomori’.
A dreamy, disconnected electronic beat plays as a Japanese teenager wakes up in his bedroom, visibly troubled at the thought of facing the day ahead of him. But there are tricks at play, as he walks through the door, only to find a replica of his bedroom ahead, and of him too, staring into the mirror. And then there is another, and another, till we see a series of bedrooms and the boy in it – only the room appears to be becoming smaller and more crowded as the boy gets bigger.
This linking of the psychological and the physical space plays as the perfect foil to British music producer Bonobo’s inspired number No Reason. Director Oscar Hudson mines the Japanese phenomenon of Hikikomori – when young people find themselves overwhelmed and end up as housebound recluses. According to the government, the number of hikikomori between the ages of 15 to 30 in Japan in 2015 numbered some 540,000.
The cinematography No Reason is inspired by the 2014 Oscar-winner Birdman. The vocals by Nick Murphy (also known as Chet Faker) contribute to the dream-like sequence and the feeling of overwhelming monotony. “We achieved the film using only in-camera physical effects and we designed an entirely new way of moving our miniature camera to get it to fit through the tiny doorways. Doing this film with CGI would have been a thousand times easier, but for me, it’s physicality and imperfections are what make it different, and, I hope better,” said Hudson.

Source: Watch: Bonobo’s surrealist music video for ‘No Reason’ is a visual treat (with a deeper message)

We need to talk: you need to follow some artists. And before you think, “Ugh, I do, and it’s unbearable.” No, those are Artistes. You don’t follow these artists. So leave the Derrida on the shelf and have a seat because we’re going to show you some good sh*t.

You need weird art.

Call it what you want. Surreal art. Fantastic art. Lowbrow art. Visionary art. Psychedelic Art. Or just plain weird. It comes from the imagination of someone askew. And it makes you stranger. You need to follow these 17 mind-blowing surreal artists.

You need these surreal artists it in your Instagram. Otherwise, you may unfollow those annoying in-laws. So don’t have a rather awkward holiday next year, get some surreal art in your Instagram.

Following these mind-blowing surreal artists on Instagram will make your feed awesome.

John Brosio

Brosio makes terrifying paintings by juxtaposing mundane scenarios. 60-foot Chickens. Ominous tornadoes behind small towns in middle-America. Little girl with bats. Brosio’s unnerving paintings subvert our expectations. He plays with themes of pop culture, Americana, nostalgia and the unexpected in gorgeous, cinematic imagery. John Brosio Website. Our previous coverage of John Brosio on Surrealism Today.

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Leif Podhajsky

You need to follow Podhajsky. Podhajsky’s face-melting, psychedelic art is some of the most powerful art being created today.

Podhajsky’s work is constantly evolving and surprising. Stare at a Podhajsky long enough, and you may become a Buddha. If you fall as in love with it as much we have, he has prints available on his website.

Leif is an artist and Creative Director. His work explores themes of connectedness, the relevance of nature and the psychedelic or altered experience.

via leifpodhajsky.com

Podhajsky’s work has been described as “striking abstractions of nature – mirrored vistas, engulfing waves, rippling, melting cosmic landscapes”

via (Leif Podhajsky on Wikipedia).

Leif Podhajsky’s Website. Our previous coverage of Leif Podhajsky.

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Nicole Watt

Remember the last time you were out in nature? There was that well-tended-to area in the middle of nowhere. Nicole Watt shows us the creatures from the other place that live there. In her gorgeous, eerie sculptures, Nicole Watt creates the inhabitants from a magical realm. Watt’s strange creations tap into the tapestry fairy tales, mythology, and our shared cultural imagination.

Nicole Watt is an internationally exhibited self-taught mixed media sculpture artist living and creating in the wilderness of Southern Tasmania, Australia. Her exquisitely simplistic and emotionally driven characters blossom from a world long forgotten; a world hidden in the shadows of imagination where the wind blows wild, the trees groan with ancient secrets born from the whispers of the fae.

via mahlimae.com

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Casey Weldon

Casey Weldon paints amazing pop-surrealist paintings. If you’ve ever thought to yourself: “This cat would be cooler if he could shoot laser beams from his eyes,” then you need to follow Casey Weldon. Weldon tripled Steve Buschemi’s awesomeness by doubling his eyes. Casey Weldon’s Site

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Beeple

Beeple is a visual and video artist producing mind-blowing art and eye candy. (And producing amazing music videos and more.) His success is also a testament to the power of the internet. With an internet connection, we truly are free to live anywhere if we produce great work and share it. Beeple makes awesome art. Everyday.

Beeple is Mike Winkelmann. He has released hundreds of extremely popular live visuals under Creative Commons. In 2007 Mike also began working on an ‘everyday’ series that continues to this day. Over the last 8+ years he has produced an image from scratch every single day and uploaded it. These images are viewed by 100K+ people daily and have inspired hundreds of other artists to start their own everyday projects.

via Beeple-Crap.com

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Mathieu Saunier (Khan Nova)

Khan Nova (Mathieu Saunier) is a french digital collage artist. His Retro-Sci-fi surrealist collages explore the past, future and feature figures with a wide range of ethnicities. Juxtaposing epic desert landscapes, clouds, larger-than-life figures, pyramids, and design elements, Saunier creates a sense of beauty, power, and magic. Saunier chases infinity.

French digital collage artist Mathieu Saunier, who goes by “Khan Nova,” creates compositions as colossal as his name suggests. Inspired by visions of the future from previous decades, Khan Nova fuses together elements of past narratives with current conversations to create otherworldly conjectures. Such images as men and women in vintage ski clothes posed in front of sleek buildings echoing the Great Pyramids of Egypt convey the spirit of Retro-Futurism, in which the contemporary viewer experiences the excitement past generations held for a hyper-modern future.

— via Khan Nova on hifructose.com

Khan Nova Prints. Our previous post on Khan Nova.

https://www.instagram.com/p/_nr07JMCdc/?taken-by=khan_nova

Rewinda Omar

Rewinda Omar’s brooding, black and white photography features figures against desolate landscapes. With a lyrical use of dark-clothed figures against these stark desert backdrops– her work somehow communicates more subconsciously than seems possible. Omar does not give us a lot to go on. Layers of meaning defy analysis. Words will not do justice to the magic found behind Omar’s metaphysical pieces. The work is highly spiritual, personal, and yet speaks to something profoundly universal.

Statement
Inspired by my personal demons.
Everyone is like a moon has two sides; The bright side and the dark side.
All the time every human only see the bright side of the moon because the dark side of the moon is invisible that always faces away from earth. This photo series is about the dark side.

Our previous post on Rewinda Omar. Rewinda Omar on Tumblr.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCNI3kBMYey/?taken-by=rewindaomar

Thomas Easton

Thomas Easton creates art juxtaposing the everyday with epic sci-fi/space visuals. His imagery has a retro feel and he cleverly sources his images from vintage 1970’s magazines that add a certain nostalgia to the work. Easton’s mind-bending collages are both elegant and sophisticated. A perfect addition to your quickly improving Instagram feed. Reasonably priced prints are available at society6.com, and will make any room in your home more creative and interesting.

Thomas Easton is a UK based digital collage artist. Lover of the surreal and abstract arts that bend the imagination and leave you thinking for a while. Writer, Musician and poet.

via Society6.com

https://www.instagram.com/p/BI4LmHiAwpb/?taken-by=thomeaston

Mark Ryden: The Godfather of Pop Surrealism

Mark Ryden should need no introduction. Ryden ushered in the Los Angeles Pop Surrealism scene by walking the sacred line between fine art and popular culture. His work is subversive. Everything is just-so. And darkly, gorgeously just-so. Yet the subject matter isn’t what “they” want you to see. Who are they? The meat industry. Virginia Beach Arts Commissioners, haha.

Blending themes of pop culture with techniques reminiscent of the old masters, Mark Ryden has created a singular style that blurs the traditional boundaries between high and low art. His work first garnered attention in the 1990s when he ushered in a new genre of painting, “Pop Surrealism”, dragging a host of followers in his wake. Ryden has trumped the initial surrealist strategies by choosing subject matter loaded with cultural connotation.

via  MarkRyden.com. Our previous post on Mark Ryden.

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Agostino Arrivabene

Agostino Arrivabene was born in 1967, lives and works in Gradella di Pandino (CR) Italy.

Arrivabene’s approach to painting stems from his artistic influences Gustave Moreau and Odd Nerdrum. He follows traditional methods that include grinding his own pigments and the almost forgotten technique of mischtechnik. In mischtechnik, egg tempera is used in combination with oil-based paints to create translucent layers which, when laid over each other, refract light creating a sense of luminosity. This attention to the minutiae has resulted in Arrivabene’s paintings actually embodying a process of alchemical transformation, in which the physical matter of painting itself is transmuted into extraordinary light-filled visions.

via Cara Gallery

Agostino Arrivabene creates spiritual, surreal, occult paintings with a nod to the symbolists. Alchemists aimed to turn lead into gold: the seeker into the initiate– from suffering human to enlighted being.

Arrivabene seems to want us to have a limitless appreciation for the unknown, the hidden, the unknowable: the mysteries of the universe are unbounded. To have an appreciation of one’s own ignorance is paramount. Arrivabene’s paintings live in the liminal space between psychology and magic. They expand and make tangible the mysteries of the Western Spiritual Tradition. And in doing so, they are a reminder that while Newton was right, so too was Mandelbrot. Our minds are linear, limited, and ruled by reductive cause and effect and a bias towards narrative. But the world is messy, dirty, and with infinite causes, effects and unpredictability. The future and present are opaque. Arrivabene’s work creates a space for the mystery, the unknown, and the hidden.

Website. Our Previous Post.

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Drømsjel

Drømsjel is drugs. His face-melting psychedelic illustrations should not be illegal. But a prescription should be required. Please view Drømsjel under a doctors’ supervision. You probably shouldn’t view Drømsjel at work, or if you have a heart condition. Side effects can include elevated awesomeness, weirdness, and loss of reality. Ask your doctor if Drømsjel is right for you. (Prints available)

Drømsjel’s artworks float freely between illustration and collage, traditional and digital. The artist splices vintage photographs of well-groomed ladies and gentlemen that evoke the standards of 20th-century propriety, turning them into bastions of surreal visions.

via dromsjel.de. Previous coverage.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJ82NIgAq5o/?taken-by=dromsjel

Lara Zankoul

Zankoul is an emerging contemporary photographer. Her photography has surreal qualities.

Look at a Zankoul photograph for long enough, and you may become the Buddha; her work stares back from the abyss, and it is silent.

Lara Zankoul was born photographically in 2008. Driven by passion, she taught herself photography and started an enriching journey in the artistic field. During 2009, she completed her 365 project, a personal mission in which she committed on taking a picture every day in a row for a year. She has participated in several local and international collective exhibitions such as the ‘Women’s Art Exhibition’ in Art Lounge Lebanon in 2011 and the 3rd edition of the Festival Photomed in the South of France in 2013. Part of the Shabab Ayyam incubator programme, she was an award recipient at the 2011 Shabab Ayyam Photography Competition. In her solo show at Ayyam Gallery in January 2013, she presented for the first time, her cinematographic work, which was auctioned in April 2013 at Christie’s Dubai.

via larazankoul.com

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Mariano Peccinetti

Mariano Peccinetti summons surrealistic, space-age visions from beyond time. Surrendering to juxtaposition, loose-association, and dream-logic, new realities emerge from beyond. I see a art movement of artists like Peccinetti, Thom Easton, and more, of artists creating amazing collage art and selling it on sites like Society6.com

Visual Artist & Musician (Collage al Infinito – Las Luces Primeras)

via Society6.com

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Matthew Stone

In Matthew Stones work we see visions of the future of art. We see three-dimensional paintings that the user can walk around in. We may be able to walk around in a virtual painting. No more screens. Holograms and connected contact lenses. Or maybe that’s not the point at all– perhaps Stone is showing use an alternate world that we can grasp if we could see the world as a shaman.

Matthew Stone

Optimism is the Vital Force that Entangles itself with and then Shapes the Future.

– via matthewstone.co.uk

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Trash Riot

Terry Ringler, also known by his online moniker Trash Riot, is a prolific purveyor of the otherworldly. His work combines imagery taken from period photographs, vintage culture magazines, and what seems to be the best astronomy and geology images published by magazines like National Geographic or Scientific American.

Via kolajmagazine.com

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPcmDVRFXoW/?taken-by=trashriot

Karen Lynch

Karen is an analogue and digital collage artist who loves to reinvent vintage imagery into surreal retro-futuristic landscapes.

Inspired by vintage photography, especially the colour palettes of kodachrome and ektachrome photography, Karen studied English Literature and Drama (BA (Hons) Flinders University of South Australia) and is drawn to the beautiful lines and shadows of expressionist, film noir and avante garde cinema.  Architecture, geometry and the incredible colours of nature are also frequent sources of inspiration.

via leafandpetaldesign.com | Karen Lynch Prints

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James Jean

And, as with his Fables work, the paintings and illustrations are often suffused with a dreamy romanticism and lyricism worthy of Maxfield Parrish, even as Mr. Jean subverts those and other isms.

Via The New York Times

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Surrealism Today

Surrealism Today! That’s us! Follow us to get introduced to more great artists.

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Note: at least two artists we’ve featured that had a notable 365 (everyday projects). If you’re an artist just starting out it is a great way to push your work and get it out in public. At the very least after one year you will have a lot of work to choose from to put in your portfolio.