Miriam Escofet creates rich oil paintings of idyllic scenes that nostalgically allude to classical antiquity. Perhaps the only notes of pessimism in these sumptuous depictions of ornate architecture, statues and jewels is that Escofet’s heavenly world seem to be nearly devoid of human inhabitants. This is a place that seems to belong to the gods — too perfect for mortals. Escofet originally studied 3D design and set out to be a ceramicist, which explains her attention to texture and volume. Each crease of fabric and crevice within a tree’s bark is rendered with precision. Light and shadow are greatly contrasted to a level beyond what we normally experience with the human eye, making Escofet’s fictional lands seem vivid yet illusory.
Detail
Detail
You know that moment when you spot something out of the corner of your eye, and when you turn around to look at it, it's gone? That's the sensation we get from 
Super Future Kid’s candy-colored paintings and sculptures fill Gallery Poulsen later this month with her new show, "Smells Like Teenage Armpit.” The artist says that all of the dimension-hopping paintings, crafted in acrylics and spraypaint, “started out as ideas I had just before falling asleep in my bed.” The show kicks off on Oct. 26 and runs through Nov. 16.