What do you call someone that combines naturalist paintings with surrealism? Surraturalist? Nasturrealist? Clearly I’m not going to inventicate a new word to describe this style of painting, so I’ll just lead with an artist’s name: Amy Guidry. I could’ve said Josh Keyes, too, but he’s more of a dystopian than a surrealist. Guidry’s got all your surrealist bases covered — life, death, sex, love — but her subject matter is photorealistically depicted animals and landscapes. It’s got that really delicious weirdness of surrealism, and the belly-filling beauty of Audobon-like naturalist works. Jesus, why are most of my metaphors food based? It’s because inside this skinny body is a fat dude trying to eat his way out. It just so happens that both of them are art lovers, and they are definitely smitten with Amy Guidry’s work. That just means that few things will have to change in the world of my aesthetic preference once the fat dude bursts out of my stomach all Aliens-style and asks for some chicken wings. Wait, how did I get to this point?
Secret Still « Artist Commentary | 17-Jan-12 at 9:28 am | Permalink
[...] I received a great little review by Brad Martin of Secret Still the other day. My painting Untitled (Heads) is featured (as seen in the screen grab on the left). I was flattered that Josh Keyes came to mind when he viewed my work, as I am a fan of his as well. You can read his flattering- and humorous- review at http://www.secretstill.com/blog/2012/01/11/amy-guidry/. [...]