Art

#animals
#humor
#Matthew Grabelsky
#portraits
#surreal

Commuters Go Wild in Matthew Grabelsky’s Uncanny Subway Paintings

February 2, 2023

Grace Ebert

“Giddy Up” (2022), oil on canvas, 14 × 16 inches. All images courtesy of Thinkspace Projects, shared with permission

Urbanites know the subway is a prime location to spot the city’s oddities, and yet, a run-in with one of Matthew Grabelsky’s characters would be a particularly wild encounter. The Los Angeles-based artist has spent the last few years rendering human-animal hybrids that nonchalantly ride public transit. Sometimes snacking on a cracker or brushing up on some reading, the characters are surreal, uncanny additions to an otherwise mundane scene.

Grabelsky’s newest oil paintings, which are currently on view as part of Riders at The Brand Library & Art Center in Glendale, California, are hyperrealistic and laced with witty details similar to earlier works in the series. Set on the New York City Subway and London Tube, the portraits are narrative-driven and embedded with pop culture references. The artist shares:

My goal is to create the effect of looking at a scene on the subway as if it were a diorama at a natural history museum. The images present richly detailed moments frozen in time allowing the viewer to closely inspect every element and make connections between them to read an overall story. In this world, people are transformed into part-animal to create scenes that are strange, funny, and endearing.

Curated by Thinkspace Projects, Riders is on view through March 17. You can find an extensive collection of Grabelsky’s commuters on his site and Instagram.

 

“Curious George Takes A Train” (2022), oil on canvas, 16 × 20 inches

Left: “Crow-Magnon” (2022), oil on canvas, 28 × 38 inches. Right: “Polly Wanna Cracker” (2022), oil on canvas, 24 × 36 inches

“Texas Hold’em” (2022), oil on canvas, 12 × 16 inches

Left: “An American Werewolf In London” (2022), oil on canvas, 24 × 32 inches. Right: “Sichuan Express” (2022), oil on canvas, 14 × 20 inches

“Gotham Local” (2022), oil on canvas, 12 × 16 inches

#animals
#humor
#Matthew Grabelsky
#portraits
#surreal

 

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. You’ll connect with a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, read articles and newsletters ad-free, sustain our interview series, get discounts and early access to our limited-edition print releases, and much more. Join now!

 

 

Also on Colossal

Related posts on Colossal about animals humor Matthew Grabelsky portraits surreal

Humor Infuses Exaggerated Features in Lola Dupre’s Meticulously Distorted Collages
The Playfully Surreal Photography of Ben Zank
Le Puzz Taps Into Playful Nostalgia with Its Retro-Style Jigsaws
Photographer Tim Flach Highlights Unusual and Endangered Birds in Striking Portraits
Vintage Illustrations of Flora and Fauna Are Superimposed into Surreal Portraits by MUMI

This article comes from the Internet:Commuters Go Wild in Matthew Grabelsky’s Uncanny Subway Paintings