En-Uk as Artist

My nine-year-old son, En-Uk, got interested in computer art sometime last year and created a number of images that I found rather striking . . . though I admit to bias. Perhaps I should submit these to the judgment of such professional artists as Terrance Lindall or Anahit Vart?

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure (or not), here are En-Uk's works of art -- the first one being a self-portrait:

I Got Hit (나는 맞았어요)

Trust me, I didn't hit him. The scene (whatever it bloody well is) springs purely from his crimson-and-clover imagination.

Next we see a screaming man, creatively titled "Screaming Man":

Screaming Man (소리지르는 사람)

Contrary to appearances, this screaming fellow is not me. Unless he's actually screaming a song. In which case . . . it is me. Capped, too. You can't top that.

We find next the plague of yellow dust blown from the Gobi Desert that annually descends upon the Korean Peninsula in springtime:

Yellow Dust (황사)

Not especially very yellow. More like a princely purple rain.

Now comes a figure typical to the Korean scene:

Mister (아저씨)

Mr. Ajushi. He's everywhere. All the time. He likes his soju and his kimchi. Hmmm . . . so do I. Well, not so much the soju, I guess.

Next, we see yet another scene typical to Korea:

Iguana (이구아나)

Iguana, but more commonly known as 'hoguana', it is typically seen in pet shops. (With a bit of paternal nudging, I might turn the artist into a Razorback fan.)

But here's something never seen on the peninsula:

Strange People (이상한 사람들)

No strange people here in Korea. None with navels so elevated, anyway. Plenty of aliens, however:

Alien (외계인)

Me, for instance. But I'm a legal one, and I promise never to abduct you. Much as I'd like to. For science.

Then, for some reason, this:

Stone Fish (돌 물고기)

Never seen a stone fish in Korea. But the following is currently rather common:

B-Boy (비보이)

Your typical B-Boy is something like a break dancer. Possibly "B-Boy" means "Break-Boy." Possibly. But probably not.

And what's this I hear in response to my musings:

Unpleasant Laughter (기분 나쁜 웃음)

I thought so. Unpleasant laughter.

But there are worse things than the laughter of ridicule:

Ghost (귀신)

The 'monster' known as a ghost, for instance!

Next, the fabulous "Zola Man," impersonating a lamppost for Félix Fénéon and his anarchist friend to converse behind:

Zola Man (졸라맨)

J'accuse! That's a misspelling, En-Uk! Should be "Jola Man"! But it ain't . . . according to the artist.

Finally, we turn to the old, very old, very paleolithic-old Stone Age. Out of Bedrock. It's a page right out of history:

Strange Dino (이상한 공룡)

Poor Dino. Very far from home, I fear.

Rather like me in that respect.

Anahit Vart: Artist

Anahit Vart, Green Knight

(Image from Anahit Vart Homepage)

In my post of November 10th, I noted that I had been looking for an image of a painting by Guillermo Pérez Villalta showing "a naked green man astride a green horse" -- for I was wondering if the artist were depicting the antagonist in the Pearl Poet's strange poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight -- and I learned of a different 'knight', the Moor Alfatami, who also had a green horse (but was himself not green), and while looking for a possible depiction of this Moor and his green horse, I Googled onto the above image of a green knight on a green 'horse' painted by Anahit Vart.

A commercial website that also shows an image of this painting suggests that the scene is connected to the "Arthurian legend," but the site offers no substantiation. Taking a slight risk, I emailed the artist to inquire:

I am curious about your painting Green Knight (2001?). Is it inspired by the Pearl Poet's 14th-century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight? I hope that you don't mind that I posted an image of your painting on my blog . . . . There, I speculate that there might be a source other than the Pearl Poet's poem, for the imagery in your painting looks different than what is found in the poem. Are you drawing upon Armenian legends? Or possibly Russian ones?

Today, Ms. Vart replied:

Your email was nice surprise for me and I'm very happy see my painting on your blog. My painting is my interpretation of a story about "Sleepy Beauty", but I painted some elements from Armenia like [the] mountain Ararat (on a left bottom corner). You have very interesting site, I think I will get a lot new information from there. I'm sending to you my late artwork image inspired by Spain where I traveled last year.

I wonder if Sleepy Beauty is the same story as Sleeping Beauty. Anyway, the painting seems to come from a different cycle of Romance fiction than the Arthurian legends. For yet another image of 'romance', I'm posting the artwork inspired by Ms. Vart's trip through Spain:

Anahit Vart

Scene from Spain

(Image sent from Anahit Vart)

I don't know if this depicts a scene from Carnival or one from a masked ball. Perhaps if Ms. Vart visits again, she can inform us. Whether the painting is of Carnival or a ball, the verdant branch borne by the lady leads me to wonder about possible symbolism. From what I've seen at Ms. Vart's website, many of her paintings have a mysterious quality that suggests to me larger meanings drawn from stories. Possibly, she might tell us about this as well.

Or perhaps all will remain a mystery.