Ukrainian artist Aec Interesni Kazki, combining influences of “science, religion, mythology, cosmology, myths and times past,” comes to San Francisco for a new show at Mirus Gallery. The paintings in “The Earth Is Flat” are packed with surreal scenes and otherworldly surprises. The show kicks off Jan. 19 and runs through Feb. 10.
The artist is known for both his public mural work and his gallery paintings and drawings. “Through his striking artworks, Aec shows an amazing artistic ability to transform abandoned or natural environments into allegorical and figurative artworks without using direct imaginary, so people can understand it free, in their own way, according to their own imagination,” a statement says. “He considers a creation of art as ‘an opportunity to understand mystical reasons of The Universe’ as well as to rediscover topics that range from science and history to religion and myths in his own way.”
See more work from the artist’s new show below.
During the late Italian Renaissance, ‘Mannerist’ artists had technically mastered the nude and began playing with her proportions. Toronto based artist 
Russian artist Dimitry Vorsin creates beguiling surrealist worlds populated with mystifying and erotic characters. Drawing influence from Salvador Dali, his figures are often elongated and with decapitated limbs. For example, one arm of a woman in a running pose morphs into what appears as a rat’s tail. The other is shown in a puppet-like construction, controlled by small nymphs wearing tall spiraling headwraps that match the woman’s own grandiose headware. The sexually fraught image suggests the power of the psyche to serve as a symbolic whip.
Cuban artist Alan Manuel Gonzalez once found it inconceivable to be showing his art outside of Cuba. He has described his paintings as the result of the inescapable circumstance of being created there. Today, censorship in Cuba is the most intense in the western hemisphere. Gonzalez relies on the use of metaphor and surrealism to express both his love for his country and disdain for its problems.