Art Verité Gallery

FAREWELL TO THE FLESH

WRITTEN BY ETCH VIZCARRA

Art is an integral part of being human: the desire to express and appreciate beauty in all its forms is integral to the human experience of being alive. While the mainstream perspective on art is that it must be beautiful, these five quintessential artists challenges old perspectives and brings you up close and personal with the strange and imperfect. These multi-awarded artists’ works are both striking and unforgettable, and their iconic and surreal painting styles has made them successful in the local art scenes. They provide a grim but highly poignant metaphor for death. In essence, the opus is death exhibiting death, which should resonate with anyone conscious of human mortality. If you find yourself deeply engrossed in their works you will somehow feel the cold chills transverse through your body. The grotesque and strongly beautiful images intricately drawn and painted by these artists infect the human imagination long after you’ve left the gallery.

     It is human nature to be fascinated by the macabre. For some people, chilling illustrations are a reality check— a reminder that life is not all “rainbows and unicorns” and for others, they are passionate interest, an exciting obsession, or just something fascinating to behold. No matter your inclination, all great art is worthy of debate and praise. The artworks of these artists are not just beautiful and philosophical but timeless. However, within these glorious canvases are a myriad of paintings that illuminate the darkness of humanity.

   Overall, the most powerful paintings are those that were painstakingly created and will leave you feeling disturbed yet also moved by the subject matter. The closer you examine their artworks, the more its horrid yet cruelly on point details come to light. The ability to bridge reality and the surreal perfectly plus present the avant-garde vision of fantasy and vivid hallucinatory scenes— this is definitely the art that speaks to you and hits you right to the core.