Art Break: Paul Laffoley

[jack_babalon]

Hands down one of my favorite artists ever - Paul Laffoley comes across to me as a sort of Ernst Haeckel of the 20th century metaconscious - offering us the sheer visionary power of a mystic as channeled through the meticulous eye of a trained naturalist. The piece below the cut is his dedication to the pioneers of what we might term the literature of the fantastic (Poe, Verne, Wells and Marcuse) - but in fact comes off to me as a sort of mandala-beacon, one that might be used to summon the spirit of Robur the Conqueror (possibly the greatest 'Science Villain' of the Victorian Age) - as the piece below is inscribed with the ominous invocation - "I ROBUR MASTER OF THE WORLD PRESENT THE ARCHITECTURE OF TRANSFORMATION AS THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF A WORLD FACED WITH CONTINOUS CHANGE AND THE GROWING POSSIBILITY OF ULTIMATE DOOM...". It sort of says to me, look to the sky for your salvation, but do not think you will see the descending of angels... but rather the return of the mad scientists gathering high above the cities of the world in a murder of air-ships.

At the bottom of this painting is inscribed the following quote, attributed to the Le Comte de St Germain - "May life become increasingly complex". It sort of sums up how I feel about Paul Laffoley in general.





For more information on Paul Laffoley visit his web address here.

Comments

[vomikronnoxis.livejournal.com]

Man, I'm so getting one of these for work.

~rl

[jackbabalon23.livejournal.com]

I've been meaning to get a Laffoley for my place for awhile now - though I was thinking his Thanatos III which is a painting that purportedly allows one to engage with an extradiemensional being when you put your hands and face up to it (without being exposed to any Lovecraftian horrors in the process).