"Queen Bee" painting

Program

BFA 87 Illustration

Blending pop culture themes with techniques reminiscent of the old masters, the singular style of Los Angeles-based Mark Ryden blurs traditional boundaries between high and low art. In the 1990s, Ryden ushered in a new genre of painting, "Pop Surrealism." Loaded with cultural connotation, his vocabulary ranges from cryptic to cute, treading a fine line between nostalgic cliché and disturbing archetype. His infinitely detailed and meticulously glazed surfaces confront the viewer with the juxtaposition of childhood innocence and the mysterious recesses of the soul — cherubic girls often rub elbows with strange figures — and hints at darker psychic stuff beneath the surface of cultural kitsch. Ryden’s paintings have been exhibited worldwide, including a retrospective “Wondertoonel” at the Frye Museum of Art in Seattle and the Pasadena Museum of California Art.