Krampus Mugshot By Travis Louie

If you like your contemporary art on the surreal side with an added twist of the freakish, then you’ll want to make a trip over to the Joshua Liner Gallery on West 28th Street to have your mind blown away by one of their current exhibits, Strange Myths, featuring the work of Queen’s born artist Travis Louie. Here’s what the gallery’s website has to say about this unique and highly compelling exhibit:

“Louie’s acrylic-on-panel paintings are whimsical portraits of bizarre beings, most of them inspired by a youthful fascination with “Atomic Age” sci-fi and horror movies, circus sideshows, and Vaudeville magic acts. Richly rendered in black and white with fine shading, the work is also influenced by the lighting and atmosphere of German Expressionist and Film Noir motion pictures.

With Curious Myths, a suite of 15 new, small-to medium-sized works, Louie has directed his lively journal practice of tiny drawings and narrative vignettes toward the creation of a cohesive, imaginary world styled with Victorian and Edwardian effects. This fictive zone is both cozy and creepy, inhabited by human oddities, mythical beings, and otherworldly characters that have seemingly posed for formal portraits to mark both their existence and place in society. Each image/character is uniquely loaded with ungainly charm and ample backstory. The underlying thread connecting the characters is the unusual circumstances that shape them and how they’ve lived.”

This Dude Was My Favorite

Geoffrey and I had a chance to meet Travis at the opening and he was gracious enough to sign the show’s promotional post card for us. Very cool! I also just picked up a copy of his book, Curiosities, on Amazon, which continues the story of many of the characters featured in this exhibit. Read more about Louie and check out his portfolio at his official website, Travis Louie Dot Com.

Travis Louie’s Curious Myths runs through August 7, 2010 at the Joshua Liner Gallery, 548 West 28th Street, 3rd Floor (between 10th and 11th Avenues) New York, NY 10001. Do not miss it!