It’s hard to know whether to put a NSFW tag on a Christian Rex van Minnen post. The Brooklyn-based artist works in a tradition perhaps most easily aligned with Caspar David Freidrich’s ‘tragedy of the landscape’ (OK, it’s a tenuous link but we’re clutching here). Perhaps more obvious is the grotesque, unsettling nature of van Minnen’s portraits and still-lifes (and combinations of both). He takes a Baroque style (i.e. tranquil compositions) and warps it so that it’s first and foremost contemporary, but also possesses a weird digital sentimentality. A hangover of the digital age if you will. The punk and psychedelic undertones keep things lighthearted and menacing in equal parts. Check out more here.
Artist Focus: Christian Rex van Minnen
